LLOYD, 
 
 NASSAU ST., 
 
 Xew-Yokk. 
 
 1 1 
 
 "V^ 
 
 
 t 
 
 ^ PEINCETON, N. J. '^* 
 
 
 Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Agiircv Col!, on Baptism, N&. 
 
 
 J 
 
 
X. 
 
 V V- 
 
AN INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 EFFECT OF BAPTISM, 
 
 ACCORDING TO THE 
 
 SENSE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, 
 
 AND OF THE 
 
 Cftutcfj of (ZBnglantJ : 
 
 IN ANSWER TO 
 
 THE REVEREND DR. MANT'S TWO TRACTS 
 
 ON 
 
 REGENERATION AND CONVERSION, 
 
 CIRCULATED WITH THE LAST ANNUAL PACKET OF THE SOCIETY FOR 
 PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 ^0 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN ^COTT, M. A. 
 
 vicar of north ferbiby ; lectvrer in the holy trinity chvrch, 
 hull; and a member of the above-named society. 
 
 Gratia sacramentum aliquando prscedit, aliquando sequitur, aliquando nee se- 
 quitur. Theodoret. 
 
 Omnibus commune est lavacrura regeaerationis, sed ipsa gratia.. ..non communis 
 ttst omnibus. Augustine, 
 
 All receive not the grace of God whicU receive the sacrament of his grace. Hooker. 
 
 He is not a Jew which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which is out- 
 ward in the flesh : but he is a Jev/, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of 
 the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. 
 St. P&bu. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by C. Baldwin, New Bridge-street; 
 
 AND SOLD BY L. B. SEELEY, 169, FLEET-STREET ; J. HATCHARD, 190, 
 
 PICCADILLY; AND BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY, 
 
 47, PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON : 
 
 •EiGHTON, Cambridge; r. bliss, oxford ; ■wolstenhot.me, york; brooke, uncot.n; A^D 
 
 BY WIWON. AND THE OTHER BOOKSELLERS IN HULL. 
 
 1815. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 witii funding from 
 
 Princeton Tiieological Seminary Library 
 
 littp://www.arcliive.or,g/details/inquiryintoeffec1815scot 
 
T^' 
 
 i»a 
 
 CONTENTS. ^.^^^ 
 
 'i 
 
 Pag« 
 Introductory Observations 1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 On the Effect of Baptism. — Language of the Church. — 
 Mr. Mant's Language. His Sentiments still unde- 
 fined. — Nature of Regeneration 5 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 The Argument from Scripture. — Mr. Mant's scriptural 
 Authorities. — His Observations on them examined. — 
 His negative argument from Scripture 19 
 
 CHAPTER HL 
 
 The Subject continued. — Another Sferies of scriptural 
 Passages concei-ning Regeneration. — Circumcision, and 
 the Jews under the Old Testament Dispensation .... 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 A Consequence of the Doctrine, that Baptism is Re- 
 generation, or the only Medium of Regeneration. ... 93 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Doctrine of the Church. — Remarkable Difference 
 between the Language of the- Church and that of 
 Mr.Mant. — Analogy of the other Sacrament. — Church 
 Articles and Catechism. — Mr. Mant's Doctrine a Re- 
 vival of the opus operatum 98 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Church Services, — Office for Baptism of Adults. — Prin- 
 ciple on which the Church proceeds, in speaking of 
 all whom she has admitted to Baptism as regenerate. . 119 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. Page 
 
 Tlie Case of Infants. — Church Service for their B^tism. 
 — A Passage in the Catechism furnishes the Key. — 
 Bishop Hopkins's Views of baptismal Regeneration. . 138 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 That the hypothetical Principle pervades the Services of 
 the Church 154 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 That the same Principle is adopted in Scripture. — An 
 important Question in the Interpretation of the sacred 
 Writings, — Circumstances under which the strong 
 Language, used concerning baptized Persons, was in- 
 troduced , 164 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 That Regeneration is not restricted to Baptism by the 
 Church of England — by the English Reformei'S — ^by 
 the Divines to whose Authority Mr. Mant appeals — 
 or by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge 174- 
 
 CHAPTER XI, 
 That, by Mr. Mant's own Concession, every adult Per- 
 son, ' receiving Baptism rightly^ is regenerate before 
 he is baptized 209 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 On the Importance of the Question at issue, and the 
 practical Tendency of Mr. Mant's Doctrine. — The 
 Author's Conclusions concerning the Effect of Bap- 
 tism 213 
 
 CHAPTER XIII, 
 On Mr. Mant's second Tract, on Conversion 23S 
 
-:r 
 
 
 '^%.y 
 
 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. ''^^' 
 
 W HEN a writer under ordinary circumstances 
 lays his sentiments before the public^ he makes 
 his way to attention as his talents, his previous 
 reputation, and the force of his arguments may 
 enable him. But it is under no ordinary cir- 
 cumstances that Mr. Mant is presented to our 
 notice, in the publication on which I intend to 
 offer some animadversions. Independently of 
 his distinctions as Chaplain to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, a Bampton Lecturer at Oxford^ 
 and one of the two persons selected to compile 
 and publish a commentary on the scriptures, 
 under the patronage of the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge ; the single fact of 
 his tracts having been adopted by that society, 
 and circulated throughout the kingdom with the 
 annual packet sent to all its members, must draw 
 peculiar attention to them ; and make every one, 
 who feels concerned for the interests of true re- 
 ligion, and the welfare of the church of Eng- 
 land, somewhat solicitous respecting the spirit 
 
 B 
 
which thev breathe, and the nature of the sen- 
 timents which they are calculated to dissemi- 
 nate. In this view, especially, I have been 
 led to examine them : and sorry I am to re- 
 portj that, according to the best judgment I 
 am able to form upon the subject, their contents 
 are such as the conductors of the society can 
 never justify to a great number of its supporters, 
 to the church of England, and to the Christian 
 world at large, their having employed the funds 
 and influence of the institution to render current 
 amongst us. 
 
 Not to prejudge the question, hereafter to be 
 investigated, concerning the character of the 
 doctrines maintained in these tracts, is it for a 
 society which has been by high authority styled 
 ' national,' and which at least aspires to be the 
 society of the church of England, without re- 
 spect to subordinate distinctions, to espouse and 
 circulate among ' the community at large,' * 
 writings which continually speak of ' a part}^* 
 
 * a sect,' ^ in the very bosom of the church ;' who 
 
 * arrogate to themselves the distinction of being 
 ' her only faithful sons,' but ' whose preaching 
 
 * nevertheless is in irreconcileable hostility to her 
 ' unequivocal and numerous declarations :' on 
 whose banners ' regeneration is, as it were, in- 
 
 * Title-page of the Tracts. 
 
3 
 
 ' scribed' as a *" watchword/ — ' regeneration, not 
 
 * the fruit of Christ's holy ordinance of baptism, 
 
 * but the effect of their declamation :' whose 
 principles * in some sense do despite unto the 
 ^Spirit of grace :' and who ' would fain fasten 
 
 * THEIR HERESY upon our church, and sedulously 
 'labour to propagate it as her's?' * I have 
 much respect, in many points of view, for Mr. 
 Mant, and I would fain hope that he is not, on 
 the whole, a man of an uncharitable and un- 
 christian temper : but, on all which I have here 
 quoted, — to say nothing of the charges brought 
 against Whitefield, of ' inconceivable effrontery,^ 
 and ' uncharitableness equal to his effrontery,' I 
 cannot refrain from asking, is this conciliatory ? 
 is it- healing? is it salutary? is it adapted to 
 the exigencies of the times ? is it calculated to 
 serve the church ? is it what it becomes 'the So- 
 ' ciety for promoting Christian Knowledge,' to 
 use its power and resources in circulating ? — I, 
 for one, feel myself entitled to remonstrate against 
 what I so much disapprove, not only as sub-^ 
 scribing to the society, but as having collected 
 money for it, and having publicly recommended 
 it to support. And, might I hope to be ho- 
 noured with a hearing from my superiors, I 
 would earnestly entreat those of the he^^ds of 
 
 * Tracts, p. 15, 21, 23, 28, &s. 
 -^ B 2 
 
our church, who take part in the proceedings 
 .of the institution, seriously to consider the ten- 
 dency of such things as have been cited : it is 
 not impossible that they may act more forcibly 
 in the way of recoil, than in that of direct, 
 straight forward movement.* 
 
 But I proceed to the more particular consi- 
 deration of the contents of the tracts, — their 
 doctrines and their arguments. 
 
 * From what I know of the sentiments prevailing among no in- 
 considerable bodies of people, I am persuaded, that the enemies of 
 the church have not, for a good while past, had a more powerful 
 inajrument put into their hands for her injury, than these tracts. 
 In fact, I know that they have already been used against her, by 
 persons willing, for this end, to assume that Mr. M. correctly exhi- 
 bits her doctrines. 
 
/v^- 
 
 
 W^^, 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 CHAPTER I. r^ 
 
 0» if^e Effect of Baptism. — Language of the 
 Church. — Mr. Manfs Language, His Senti^ 
 ments still undefned, — Nature ofRegefieration. 
 
 AT is well known, thatj in very early timeS;, strong 
 language came into use^ in the Christian church, 
 concerning baptism, and the blessings connected 
 with it. On what principles it was thus used 
 may hereafter, in some degree, appear.* 
 
 It is likewise well known, that the church of 
 England has seen good to retain a portion of this 
 language, particularly by speaking of every one, 
 whom she has admitted to baptism, as '^born again,' 
 and ' regenerated by God's Holy Spirit/ But it 
 is by no means sufficient merely to quote this lan- 
 guage : it remains to be inquired, in what sense, 
 and especially, as it appears to me, upon what 
 grounds, the church uses it. Different modes of 
 explaining it have been adopted by high authori- 
 ties. 
 
 Many have attached to the terms ' regenera- 
 tion' and ' new birth,' in this connexion, a lower 
 
 * Close of c. ix. 
 
and qualified sense. This was done, in parti- 
 cular, by the able and excellent Bishop Hopkins, 
 whom Mr. M. quotes for the assertion, ' that 
 ' baptismal regeneration must be acknowledged 
 ' by all, that will not wilfully shut their eyes 
 ' against the clear evidence of Scripture;'* at the 
 same time, however, that he makes the quotation, 
 intimating, that the bishop has * qualified the 
 ' proposition' by 'a limitation/ This limitation, 
 it may be collected from the next page but one, 
 is no less important than the following, that he 
 ' considers this baptismal regeneration, as merely 
 * admitting us members of the visible church, 
 ' and not as entitling us to eternal life ; and con- 
 ' tends for another regeneration, independent of 
 ' the washing by water, and identified by him 
 ' with conversion, renovation, and the like.' f 
 
 Had Mr. M. used the term baptismal regene- 
 ration in such a sense as this, there might have 
 been no dispute with him. He, however, admits 
 of no such qualified interpretation. His lan- 
 guage upon the subject is as follows ; 
 
 * P. 40. The quotation is not very fairly made. The bishop's 
 words are, ' such a baptismal regeneration as this must needs be 
 'acknowledged by all,' &.c. Works, 8vo. Vol. ii. p. 423. He is speaking 
 of an ' external, ecclesiastical,' and merely ' relative ' sanctilication ', 
 in short of ' admission into the visible church.' Mr. M. however, 
 as I have said, intimates * a limitation.' 
 
 t P- 42. 
 
 6 
 
— ' That supernatural grace, which was there- 
 ' by to be conferred' — namely by the sacrament 
 of baptism^ — ' through the instrumentality of 
 ' water, and by the agency of the Holy Ghost.' 
 P. 8. 
 
 * Baptism is a new birth, by which we enter 
 ' into the new world, the new creation, the bless- 
 ' ings and spiritualities of the kingdom.' — ' From 
 ' this time forward we have a new principle put 
 ' into us, the Spirit of grace, which, besides our 
 
 * soul and body, is a principle of action;' &c.* 
 P. 9. — So also ^ a new principle of life infused/ 
 &c. P. 50. ' By that sacrament we are made 
 ' Christians, and are born anew of \Yater and of 
 - the Holy Spirit.' P. 10. 
 
 The church ' supposes, in strict conformity 
 ' with the scriptures, not merely that all real 
 ' Christians are regenerate by God*s Holy Spirit, 
 ' by which I understand all those, who live a 
 
 * Christian life ; but that those also are so rege- 
 ' nerated, to whom baptism is rightly adminis- 
 
 * tered, notwithstanding by their future conduct 
 ' they may forfeit the privileges of their new 
 'birth.' P. 10, ll.f 
 
 * Quoted from Bp. Taylor. 
 
 t The words in italics, in this passage, are noted as a quotation 
 From Mr. Overton's True Churchman, &c. p. 109. 
 
8 
 
 ' That the sacramental character of the insti- 
 ' tution should be steadily kept in •view, we are 
 ' reminded of the regeneration conveyed by it to 
 ' the baptized.' P. 16. 
 
 ' We maintain the regenerating efficacy of 
 ' baptism to those who die before they commit 
 « actual sin.' P. g2. 
 
 ' To deny the regenerating effect of baptism is 
 
 * is in some sense to do despite unto the Spirit of 
 ' grace.' P. 28. 
 
 ' When it may be satisfactorily argued from 
 
 * the highest authority, that baptism is the vehicle 
 ^ of regeneration, why should we look for any 
 « other V P. 29. 
 
 ' It is the doctrine of the holy scriptures, that 
 ' we are by baptism made heirs of salvation 
 ' through Christ; &c.-^If then we cannot be- 
 ' come heirs of salvation, except we be born 
 ' of water and of the Spirit^ and if we be 
 ' made heirs of salvation by baptism^, I see not 
 ' how we are to evade the consequence, that the 
 ' outward washing of baptism is attended by th& 
 ' sanct'ification of the Spirit, and that we are 
 ' born of water and of the Spirit, when we are 
 « baptized.' P. 29. 
 
— " Which confirms an opinion presently to 
 
 * be insisted on, that no other than baptismal re- 
 ' generation is possible in this world.' P. 32. 
 
 ' Sanctification and purity, unspotted and un- 
 ' blemished holiness^ are here * attributed to the 
 ' church of Christ as the effect of the washing 
 
 * of water/ P. 33. — He adds, of course, by * the 
 ' operation of the Spirit.' But I here quote the 
 passage for the terms with which it opens. 
 
 ' We argue for baptism being the vehicle of 
 egeneration, 
 ' tion.' P. 35. 
 
 ^ regeneration, because it is the vehicle of salva- 
 
 ' To deny the regenerating influence of baptism, 
 ' is to deny its sacramental character.' P. 36. 
 
 ' If ever the new birth be not conveyed by 
 ' baptism rightly administered ; or if, when once 
 ' regenerated, it be (I will not say necessary, but) 
 ' possible for any one to be born again, doubtless 
 ' there is scriptural authority to that purpose.' 
 P. 40. 
 
 Supposing it to convey no * effectual regenera- 
 ' tion,' he makes a person to affirm, ' It is desti- 
 
 * Viz. in Eph. v. 25—27. 
 
10 
 
 ^ tute of an inward and spiritual grace ; it is no 
 '^ sacrament ; it is a non-essential.' P. 51. 
 
 — "^ Ordained as it was by Christ himself, with 
 ' a promise of salvation annexed to its legitimate 
 *^ administration.' P. 51. 
 
 It appears^ then^ that by ' the regeneration of 
 ' baptism ' Mr, M. understands ' a supernatural 
 ' grace conferred' — ' a new principle put into us/ 
 ' — a new principle of life' and ' of action ' * — 
 ' even the Spirit of grace' — ' the sanctification of 
 ' the Spirit' — which ' makes us heirs of salvation' 
 — and '^entitles us to eternal life.'f And he be- 
 lieves^ that all this extends to every one, to whom 
 ' baptism is rightly administered :' that to deny 
 this is ' to deny its sacramental character' — is 
 ' heresy' — is ' in some sense doing despite to the 
 ' Spirit of grace.' And, finally, he holds, that 
 ' no other regeneration is possible in this world.' 
 
 In the above citations, if I have not collected 
 every term by which Mr. M. describes the effect 
 of baptism, yet I trust I have omitted nothing by 
 which his views of the subject might be elucidated. 
 And trulv, after such accumulated and diversified 
 phraseology, to complain of the want of expla- 
 
 * P. 9,50. t P. 42. 
 
11 
 
 nation may seem a little unreasonable. Yet this 
 is the complaint which I am constrained to make. 
 The whole of this language appears to me inde- 
 finitCj indistinctj and not very consistent with 
 itself, and with other parts of the work. Far from 
 being calculated ^ to convey correct notions of re- 
 ^ generation;'* it by no means indicates the writer 
 to have entered into the consideration of the 
 various questions which belong to his subject. 
 
 For instance, it might be asked. Is baptism 
 itself regeneration ? or does it "^ convey' regener- 
 ation ? or is it only ' attended by' regeneration ? 
 Each of these questions suggests an idea distinct 
 from the others. Each sentiment has had its 
 abettors ; and each might claim the support of 
 Mr. M.'s authority ; the first on the ground of 
 the quotation from page 9, beginning, ' baptism 
 ' is a new birth;' the last on the ground of the 
 second quotation from page 29 ; and the inter- 
 mediate one, on the ground of several of the quo- 
 tations which have been made, and of his pre- 
 vailing language. 
 
 Again : does baptism convey its regenerating 
 influence only to infants, or to all ' to whom it is 
 ' rightly administered ?' Certainly we should not 
 
 * Title-page of the Tracts. 
 
12 
 
 hesitate to pronounce the latter to be Mr. M.'s 
 opinion, from various passages above cited,* and 
 from the general tenor of his tracts. What 
 then shall we say to the following sentence, 
 in page 22 ? ' We maintain the regenerating 
 ' efficacy of baptism to those who die before 
 ' they commit actual sin.' Has it then no 
 ' regenerating efficacy,' at the time, to those who 
 live afterwards to commit actual sin ? If so, Mr. 
 M. can never know whether to return thanks for 
 the regeneration of an infant whom he baptizes, 
 unless he can first know that it will not live to 
 commit actual sin ! — Has it, again, no ' regene- 
 ' rating efficacy' to adults, "^ rightly receiving it ?' 
 And do both the classes, which have been named, 
 need, or, at least, mai/ they need ' another rege- 
 ' neration' distinct from that of baptism ? f This 
 must be the case, if with them baptism be attended 
 with no ' regenerating efficacy.' 
 
 But the main question is that which relates to 
 the nature of regeneration. Unless it be settled 
 what we mean by the term, there is no end to 
 the dispute. — Mr. M. charges Bishop Hopkins, 
 and other more modern divines, with confound- 
 ing it with ' conversion, renovation,' ' a change 
 
 * See quotations from p. 11, 12, 16, 28, 32, 36, 40, 51. 
 t P. 43. 
 
13 
 
 * of heart/ ' and the like.** Certainly he is wo/ 
 far from the truth,in supposing that many of us 
 
 do pretty closely connect it with conversion : 
 yet from a work, with which so near a follower 
 of the bishop of Lincoln ought not to be un- 
 acquainted, he might have learned, that even 
 here he is not quite correct, when he asserts, that 
 we ' identify regeneration with conversion f .' 
 Waving that point, however, in what does Mr. 
 M. suppose regeneration actually to consist? As 
 the former of the two prelates just mentioned 
 observes. The ' grace, that concurs unto the 
 ' great change,' that a sinner undergoes, ' when 
 ' he is translated from a state of nature unto a 
 
 * state of grace — is of two sorts : either such as 
 
 * alters the relations^ wherein we stand unto God; 
 ' or such as alters the dispositions and habit of 
 ' our souls.' Of the former sort \^ justification, 
 which does not express ' how our heart is 
 ' changed towards God,' but that our sins are 
 put away, and that we are accepted to God's 
 favour. Of the latter kind is sanctijication^ 
 which declares a purification of our ' moral ha- 
 ' bits and principles.' J These two things, though 
 inseparable, are essentially distinct, and must be 
 
 * p. 41, 42. 
 
 f Scott's Remarks on Bp. Tomline's Refutation of Calvinism, vol. i. 
 p. irr and 209. 
 X Bp. Hopkins's Works, vol, ii. p. 475, 476. 8vo. 
 
 5 
 
14 
 
 carefully distinguished by him who would write 
 with any precision upon theological subjects. 
 Of which kind, then, does Mr. M. understand 
 the change of regeneration to be ? Is it an in- 
 ternal and moral change, turning fallen man 
 from the love of sin to holiness, the commencement 
 of " the sanctification of the Spirit," by which 
 he is to be restored to '^ the image of God ?" or 
 is it a change of state and circumstances ? Is it 
 the remission of sins ? If the former, then why 
 does he censure those who identify it with '^ a 
 ^ change of heart ?' But if not, what are we to 
 understand by his own language, when he speaks 
 of ^ a nexv principle of life being infused ' into 
 us, the opposite of being ' dead in trespasses and 
 ^ sins ' * — of ' the outward washing of baptism 
 ' being attended by the sanctif cation of the 
 ' Spirit ' f — of ' sanctif cation and purity, un- 
 ^ spotted and unblemished holiness' being ' at- 
 ^ tributed to the church of Christ, as the ef- 
 •^fect of the washing of water,' under ' the 
 ^ x>p€ration of the Spirit' \ — and of ' dying unto 
 * sin in baptism ?' § If all this do not mean a 
 moral change, ' a change of heart/ what does it 
 mean ? But if it do, what, again, are we to un- 
 derstand by the following extraordinary passage 
 concerning St. Paul ? ' Where is St. Paul de- 
 
 * p. 50 and 9. f P- 29. t P- 33. § P. 39* 
 
15 
 
 "" scribed as regenerated, until Ananias baptized 
 ' him and washed away his sins ? That he was 
 ' converted, and that his heart was renewed, is 
 ' evident from the language, which he uttered 
 
 * when he had fallen to the earth, and from the 
 ^ obedience which he paid to the voice from 
 ' heaven. That he was not regenerated until a 
 ^ later period is evident; for when Ananias called 
 
 * on him to be baptized, he was still under the 
 ' pollution of his sins.' * 
 
 On the mode of reasoning, adopted in this 
 passage, I at present offer no remark. But I 
 must ask, what is here meant by ' the pollution 
 ' of his sins,' which the regeneration of baptism 
 was to wash away ? Does it mean depravity, — 
 corrupt disposition ? If so, had not his ' con- 
 ^ version,' and the ' renewal of his heart,' re- 
 moved it ? Or does it mean guilt, — liability to 
 punishment ? If so, axe we to suppose a man 
 ' converted,' ' renewed^' ' obedient,' and conse- 
 quently penitent and believing, yet unpardoned? 
 Is this compatible with the explicit and acknow- 
 ledged doctrine of scripture ? — And, further, 
 the question recurs. If regeneration "signify the 
 removal of guilt by pardon, where was the pro- 
 priety of all the language so recently quoted, 
 
 * P. 43. 
 
16 
 
 which describes it as the removal of depravity by 
 ' sanctification ?' 
 
 Our views of regeneration (if, without any 
 pretensions to be the ' accredited advocate ' of a 
 party,* I may presume to speak on behalf of 
 many of my brethren as well as myself,) are 
 surely more definite, and more consistent with 
 themselves, whether they be more ' correct ' or 
 not. We consider the term as equivalent, or 
 nearly so, to other scriptural phrases, such as 
 the '" quickening of those who were dead in 
 '' trespasses and sins," '' a new heart/' '' a new 
 '' creature.'* The necessity for this change is 
 laid in the corruption and depravity of human 
 nature ; which are such, as to make a moral re- 
 novation of the whole man indispensable to his 
 " seeing the kingdom of God," — whether our 
 Lord meant, and whether we are to describe this 
 change, by the term regeneration or not. The 
 effect of it is, to turn man from sin to God and 
 holiness. It is the commencement of that 
 " sanctification of the Spirit," which must re- 
 store us to '^' the image of God," " make us 
 *' meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the 
 '' saints in light." The Holy Spirit of God is 
 the author of the change : the word of God the 
 
 * Tracts, p. C5. 
 
17 
 
 ordinary means of effecting it.* Baptism, we 
 consider as ' the sign of regeneration ;' f as '^ a 
 ' pledge 'J of it *^ to those who receive baptism 
 ' rightlj ;' and also as ' a means' ;{; by which the 
 blessing may be conveyed^ in answer to the de- 
 vout prayers of the several parties concerned in 
 the administration and reception of this sacra- 
 ment. But as to its * entitl'wg us to eternal life/ 
 this we think, in all cases, a misapplication of 
 terms. We make a marked distinction between 
 our title to eternal life, and our " meetness " 
 for it. Christ, and his " obedience unto death " 
 in our behalf, embraced by a living faith, con- 
 stitute our only title to heaven, the sole ground 
 of our admission to that blessed vState; though 
 personal holiness is the necessary preparation for 
 it, " without which no man shall see the 
 " Lord.'' 
 
 Such, I believe I may venture to state, are the 
 sentiments of those, who are reproached as ' the 
 'self-denominated evangelical party.' § Whose 
 
 * James i. 18. 1 Pet. i. 23. Eph. v. 26. — ' Christ saith, Except 
 ' a man be born again front above, he cannot see the kingdom of 
 
 * God Saith St. Peter, We be born again. How? Not by a mortal 
 
 ' seed, but by an immortal. What is this immortal seed ? By the 
 ' word of the living God; by the word of God preached and opened. 
 ' Thus Cometh in our new birth.' Bp. Latimer. 
 
 t Church Art. xxvii. J Catechism. 
 
 § I gladly refer to Bp. Hopkins on ' the Nature and Necessity of 
 'Regeneration/ for a more enlarged statement. Works, vol, ii. p. 468. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 views, their's or their opponents', best agree 
 with scripture, and the authorized writings of 
 our church, is to be the subject of further in- 
 quiry. 
 
19 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 The Argument from Scripture. — Mr. Mantes 
 scriptural Authorities, — His Observations on 
 them examined, — His negative Argument 
 from Scripture. 
 
 J>J.R. MANX observes, that he is well aware, 
 that ' no authority is admissible for the founda- 
 ' tion of a doctrine, except that of the inspired 
 'writings/'* He proceeds, therefore, ' to state 
 ' several scriptural authorities, on which the no- 
 ' tion of our being regenerated by baptism may 
 ' be incontrovertibly maintained.' f 
 
 Let us then examine what is the decisive testi- 
 mony of scripture, by which he imagines, that he 
 thus * incontrovertibly' establishes his views of 
 the subject. 
 
 The first passage is part of our Saviour's dis- 
 course with Nicodemus, which he uses as a text. 
 I shall place the words entire in the reader's 
 view. 
 
 John iii. 1 — 12: "There was a man of the 
 " pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the 
 * P. 37. t P- 30. 
 
 C g 
 
20 
 
 ^^ Jews : the same came to Jesus by night, and 
 '' said unto him^ Rabbi, we know that thou art a 
 '' teacher come from God : for no man can do 
 " these miracles that thou doest, except God be 
 '' with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man 
 *' be born again he cannot see the kingdom of 
 '' God. Nicodemus saith unto him. How can 
 '' a man be born when he is old ? Can he enter 
 " the second time into his mother's womb and be 
 '" born ? Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say 
 '' unto thee. Except a nianbe born of water and 
 " of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
 '' of God. That which is born of the flesh is 
 '' flesh ; and that which is boi^n of the Spirit is 
 '' spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye 
 ^' must be born again. The wind bloweth where 
 " it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, 
 '' but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whi- 
 '' ther it goeth : so is every one that is born of the 
 " Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto 
 " him. How can these things be ? Jesus an- 
 '' swered and said unto him. Art thou a master of 
 " Israel, and knowest not these things ? Verily, 
 " verily, I say unto thee. We speak that we do 
 *' know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye 
 " receive not our witness. If I have told you 
 earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall 
 ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things V 
 
 ft 
 
21 
 
 The other passages adduced are the follow- 
 ing. 
 
 St. Mark xvi. 15, 16 : '^ Go ye into all the 
 " world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 
 " He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
 " saved ; but he that believeth not shall be 
 " damned." 
 
 " Tit. iii. 4 — 7 : " But, after that the kindness 
 '' and love of God our Saviour toward man ap- 
 " peared, not by works of righteousness which we 
 " have done, but according to his mercy he saved 
 " us, by the washing of regeneration, and re- 
 " newing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on 
 " us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Sa- 
 '' viour : that, being justified by his grace, we 
 " should be made heirs according to the hope of 
 '' eternal life." 
 
 1 Cor. vi. 11: " And such were some of you ; 
 " but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye 
 '' are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
 " by the Spirit of our God." 
 
 Col. ii. 12, 13 : " Buried with Christ in bap- 
 " tism, wherein also ye are risen with him^ 
 " through the faith of the operation of God, 
 *' who hath raised him from the dead. And you. 
 
22 
 
 " being dead in your sins and the uncircumci- 
 *' sion of your flesh, hath he quickened together 
 *' with him." 
 
 Rom. vi. 3 — 5, 8 — 1 1 : '^ Know ye not that 
 *' so many of us as were baptized into Jesus 
 " Christ, were baptized into his death ? There- 
 " fore 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 Now, 
 
 " if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we 
 " shall also live with him : knowing that Christ, 
 *' being raised from the dead, dieth no more ; 
 *' death hath no more dominion over him. For, 
 " in that he died, he died unto sin once : but, in 
 " that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise 
 reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed 
 unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus 
 « Christ our Lord.'* 
 
 Eph. V. 25 — 27 : " Christ loved the church, 
 " and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify 
 ' and cleanse it with the washing of water by 
 *' the word ; that he might present it to himself 
 " a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, 
 '' or any such thing ; but that it should be holy 
 '' and w ithout blemish." 
 
 tc 
 
*{ 
 
 23 
 
 1 Cor. xii. 13 : "By one Spirit are we all 
 baptized into one body." 
 
 Acts ii. 38 : " Repent, and be baptized every 
 
 * one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
 *^ remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift 
 *' of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Acts X. 47, 48 : *' Can any man forbid water, 
 " that these should not be baptized, which have 
 " received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? And 
 *' he commanded them to be baptized in th« 
 " name of the Lord." 
 
 Actsxxii. 16 : Ananias to Paul: ''And now 
 *' why tarriest thou ? Arise and be baptized, and 
 ** wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the 
 " Lord." 
 
 These, with an allusion to 1 John iii. 2, and 1 
 Peter i. 3, 23, which will be noticed hereafter, 
 constitute Mr. M.'s scriptural authorities : and 
 ' from them he apprehends it to be established, 
 ' as the- general doctrine of the gospel, that the 
 
 * new birth or regeneration, which is pronounced 
 
 * by our Saviour to be necessary to salvation, or 
 
 * (as he expresses it) to seeing or entering into 
 
 * the kingdom of God, is eflfected by the ope- 
 
24 
 
 ' ration of the Holy Ghostatbaptism'*-— at bap- 
 tism ' exclusively^' f and always at baptism where 
 it is ' rightly administered.' ^ 
 
 Now let the reader once more look over these 
 passages, with a view to ascertain what demon- 
 stration he finds in them of Mr. M.'s doctrines, 
 that ' spiritual regeneration,' — ' a supernatural 
 * grace,' — ^ a new principle of life' and * of 
 ' action,' — ' the sanctification of the Spirit/ 
 which ' makes us heirs of salvation,* and * enti- 
 ' ties us to eternal life,' always accompanies bap- 
 tism ; and is ' exclusively' confined to baptism ; 
 so ' that no other than baptismal regeneration is 
 ' possible in this world,' No unprejudiced 
 reader, I think, can make this examination, with- 
 out feeling astonished, that such an edifice 
 should have been raised upon such a basis ; such a 
 system spun out of so scanty materials ! He must, 
 I conceive, feel no small surprise at observing 
 what passes with Mr. M. for ' incontrovertible' 
 proof ! 
 
 But let us hear Mr. M.'s comments on hig 
 scriptural proofs. 
 
 On John iii. he observes, ' It should appear, 
 
 *P.35. tP-32,33. J P. 40. 
 
25 
 
 * that our Saviour was here alluding by antici- 
 
 * pation to the sacrament of baptism, which he 
 
 * intended to ordain ; and to that supernatural 
 
 * grace, which was thereby to be conferred 
 
 * through the instrumentality of water, and by 
 
 * the agency of the Holy Ghost ; adopting not 
 ' only the ceremony itself,' which had been used 
 by the Jews, and ' which he meant to exalt to 
 ' more noble and spiritual purposes ; but also the 
 
 * very term, by which the Jews had described 
 ' the change wrought in the baptized.' * 
 
 The last clause is explained by what he had 
 previously said, that ' proselytes, purified and 
 
 * admitted into the Jewish church by baptism, 
 
 * were said to be regenerated or born again.' f 
 If so, and if this were established and customary 
 phraseology, it must have been familiar to Nico- 
 demus, "^ a teacher of Israel ;" and familiar to 
 him, though in a lower, yet in ' a similar sense' "l 
 to that in which our Lord used it. But who can 
 possibly read his astonished reply, and for a mo- 
 ment believe this ? " How can a man," he ex- 
 claims, " be born when he is old ? Can he enter a 
 " second time into his mother's womb and be 
 " born ?" Is this the language of a man accus- 
 tomed to the idea, and to ' the very term,' of being 
 " born again ?" 
 
 * P> 8. t P- 6. I P. 8. 
 
26 
 
 The rest of the passage may be suffered to pass 
 for the present, with the remark, that it is opi- 
 nion only, and not argument. 
 
 In a subsequent part of his work, Mr. M. ob- 
 servesj with reference to the same passage of 
 scripture : * If spiritual regeneration be not con- 
 
 * ferred by baptism, when, (we may reasonably 
 
 * demandj) and by what means is it conferred ? 
 
 * In what other ceremony, and at what other 
 ' season, shall we find that joint operation of 
 ' water and of the Holy Spirit, of which Christ 
 
 * affirms we must be born ? I say that joint ope- 
 
 * ration ; for surely those, which Christ himself 
 
 * hath joined together, it is not for man to put 
 ' asunder/ He adds, ' I am the more disposed 
 ' to press this argument, and to bring it forward 
 
 * in the most prominent point of view, not only 
 ' because it appears to me decisive on the ques- 
 
 * tion ; but also, because the importance of the 
 ' argument seems to be recognized by the silence 
 
 * of our opponents, who in their zeal to enforce 
 
 * regeneration, the being born again, the being 
 
 * born of God, the being born of the Spirit, stu- 
 ' diously keep out of sight the instrument, 
 
 * whereby Christ says we must be born again.' * 
 And shortly after : ' For the purpose, therefore, 
 
 * of regeneration, we conceive this union of 
 
 * P. 25, 26. 
 
£7 
 
 '' water as the instrument, and of the Spirit asf 
 
 * the eflficient principle, to be absolutely neces- 
 
 * sary/ * We are justified in contending, that 
 
 * for the express purpose of regeneration, not 
 
 * only is his (the Spirit's) operation necessary, 
 
 * but that it must also (humanly speaking) be 
 
 * administered through the mediation of water. 
 
 * It is not for man to dispense with the ordi- 
 
 * nances of God.* 
 
 Such are Mr. M.'s reasonings upon the dis- 
 course with Nicodemus. I can believe him to 
 be very sincerely convinced by them : but I must 
 wonder if to others they should appear very con- 
 clusive. 
 
 We will admit that, in the expression " born of 
 '' water," our Lord alludes to baptism, though, as 
 Mr. M. observes, it must have been *by anticipa- 
 
 * tion,* since that sacrament was not yet ordained : 
 and I conceive the same language might, without 
 iippropriety, have been used, had the appoint- 
 naent of baptism never been intended. My rea- 
 sons for such an opinion will appear as we pro- 
 ceed, 
 
 Mr. M.J indeed, speaks of ' water ' as ' the in- 
 ' strumentj whereby Christ says we must be born 
 
28 
 
 * again.' * But it is not very conceivable hovr 
 water, literally taken, being applied to the body, 
 should be instrumental to the regeneration of the 
 soul. Nor does our Lord's language necessarily, 
 or even naturally, convey such an idea. It might 
 mean more : it may mean less. The expression 
 is precisely the same respecting water, as respect- 
 ing the Spirit : " born of water and of the Spi- 
 " rit." Yet Mr. M. himself will not go the length 
 of interpreting it of both in exactly the same 
 sense. He lowers its meaning, as it is applied 
 to the former, to the notion of instrumentality : 
 I see not, therefore, what right he has to con- 
 demn us, if we consider it as expressing only that 
 of sign, or emblem. I speak here of the water, 
 that which alone our Lord names, and that 
 which Mr. M. calls 'the instrument:' not of the 
 sacrament of baptism, which we consider as more 
 than a mere sign. 
 
 Mr. M. lays great stress on what he calls 
 
 * that joint operation of water and of the Holy 
 ' Spirit, of which,' according to him, ' Christ 
 ' affirms we must be born.' He is ' disposed to 
 
 * press this argument, and to bring it forward in 
 
 * the most prominent point of view.' He talks, 
 in this connexion, of ' putting asunder those 
 
 * P. 26, 27, 38. 
 
29 
 
 ' things which Christ himself hath joined toge- 
 ' ther; of ' dispensing with the ordinances of 
 'God;'* and other things of serious import. 
 But, before this has any weighty he must prove 
 much more decisively than by the mere citation of 
 the words, that such ' a joint operation, and such 
 an ordination of God, inseparably connecting 
 regeneration with the use of water, are implied in 
 the terms " born of water and of the Spirit." I 
 would venture to ask. Are they even so clear 
 upon the point, that any one would have inferred 
 from them alone, that Christians were to be bap- 
 tized at all ? I readily allow, that ^ a single text 
 ' of scripture, properly understood, may serve 
 ' for the foundation of a doctrine :'f but, to serve 
 for the foundation of such a doctrine as Mr. M/s, 
 it must be much more decisive, and the interpre- 
 tation much more clearly ' proper,* than what is 
 now before us. 
 
 Let me beg the reader's attention to a very ob- 
 servable circumstance in the passage of scrip- 
 ture, under consideration, which Mr. M.'s re- 
 marks upon it would not have prepared him to 
 expect, and which is by no means undeserving of 
 notice in the argument. It is true, that, in his 
 second assertion of the necessity of being born 
 again, (v. 5. ) our Saviour does introduce the men- 
 
 * P. 25, 28. t P- 30. 
 
30 
 
 tion of " water :" but not only had he said no- 
 thing of it in the first, (v. 3.) which^ indeed, was 
 more concise and general ; but he drops all no- 
 tice of it, all allusion to it, in every one of the 
 three subsequent instances in which he speaks of 
 the same thing, in the same discourse, insisting 
 only upon being " born of the Spirit *' as the 
 great essential matter intended. (See v. 6, 7, 8.) 
 As it has been justly remarked, in the whole pas- 
 sage ' one word intimates the outward sign, all 
 ' else relates to the thing signified.' * If any of 
 us, therefore, ' in our zeal to enforce regenera- 
 ' tion, the being born again, the being born of 
 * God, the being born of the Spirit,* — not ' stu- 
 ' diously keep out of sight* f what Mr. M. calls 
 ' the instrument,' — but attribute a less necessary 
 efficacy to it, than he does ; I trust we do not ' put 
 ' asunder what Christ hath joined together,' but 
 rather imitate his example, and comply with his 
 instructions, both as to the letter and the spirit of 
 them. 
 
 Let me further ask, while the expression 
 *' born of water and of the Spirit " is under con- 
 sideration, does Mr. M. recollect no other in- 
 stance, in which, and that in speaking of the 
 *elf-same subject, the operation of the Spirit is 
 connected, in a very similar manner, with another 
 
 » Scott's Remarks, &c. Vol. i. p. 18T. f P. S6. 
 
 % 
 
31 
 
 material substance ? I allude to the words of St. 
 John the Baptist concerning our Saviour: " He 
 " shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and 
 *' WITH FIRE." Might we not from this passage 
 argue ' the joint operation' of the Holy Ghost 
 and of fire, much in the same way, and with 
 pretty much the same degree of force, as Mr. M. 
 has argued that of the Holy Ghost and of water, 
 from our Lord's words ? Might we not proceed, 
 in language resembling his, to observe upon the 
 presumption of ^ putting asunder' what he, whose 
 baptism and whose commission were " from 
 ** heaven," hath *^ joined together,' and joined 
 together in speaking expressly of what Christ 
 should do for his people ? Yet no one would 
 hesitate to pronounce such arguments misapplied 
 in this case : no one imagines that " the fire'' is 
 more than an emblem in St, John's address : * 
 what proof then is there^ that " the water" is 
 more than an emblem in our Lord's discourse ? f 
 — Accordingly a further analogy is observable in 
 the two cases. Just as our Lord once mentions 
 
 * It is true, that, when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples 
 at the day of pentecost, " cloven tongues like as of fire " appeared 
 ** sitting," as it were, " upon each of them." But I suppose no one 
 will take toxgues," like as of fire," resting upon a few of our Lord's 
 disciples, as a literal baptism with fire, or as that " baptism with 
 " fire " which was promised to his disciples generally, 
 
 1 1 again beg it may be observed, that I am not calling the sacra- 
 ment of baptism a mere emblem : I am here simply treating of the OD« 
 expression " born (^uater and of the Spirit." John iii, 5, 
 
32 
 
 water^ and then drops the allusion, so^ while two 
 of the evangelists give us John's testimony with 
 the sign expressed, as well as the thing signified, 
 the other two omit all mention of the sign^ and 
 notice only that which was represented by it.* 
 
 We see from this instance, that a purifying 
 element may be properly named in connexion 
 with the Holy Ghost, ' the Sanctifier,' even when 
 there is no intention that that element should be 
 at all employed as ' an instrument/ or even 
 actually used as a sign of his operation : and so 
 our Lord might have named '' water," even if he 
 had had no intention of instituting the sacrament 
 of baptism. I admit, however, that he did allude 
 to that sacrament; but I believe, that Mr. M. 
 would find it no easy task to prove, that '' the 
 *^' water" of baptism was alluded to, as any other 
 than what our church expressly says it is, ' an 
 ' outward and visible sign ;' f or that the opinion 
 of a reformer, whom Bishop Horsley pronounced 
 one of the most valuable of commentators, is so 
 erroneous as he thinks it : namely, that, in this 
 passage, ' water and the Spirit mean only the 
 ' Spirit, who cleanses after the manner of water.' X 
 
 * See Matt. iii. 11. Lu. iii. 16. and compare Mar. i. 8. John i. 33. 
 
 •f Catechism. 
 
 X P. 41. So also Bp. Hopkins, ' To be born of water and of the- 
 ' Spirit may admit of a doable interpretation : for either, first, by 
 * water is meant baptism ;' — or, secondly, it ' may denote to us the 
 
33 
 
 But it is little less than painful to spend time 
 in discussion, which may have the appearance of 
 being contentious, if not also trifling, concerning 
 a portion of the divine oracles, of so solemn cha- 
 racter as the discourse with Nicodemus, Let us 
 take a general view of the passage as it lies in 
 the gospel, and try what impression it makes, 
 and surely was designed to make, upon the 
 serious reader's mind. In proceeding to this 
 view, however, it may be well to recollect, that, 
 if the passage relate to baptism, or what neces- 
 sarily or inseparably accompanies baptism, then 
 it means, as one somewhat awfully said, ' nothing, 
 ' — nothing at all to us,' who have received bap- 
 tism. Whatever our character, we have then 
 nothing to do with being born again, but, as Mr. 
 M. expresses it, to be ' filled with all joy. and 
 ' peace in believing that we partake of it.' * Nay, 
 further, if baptism and the concomitants of bap- 
 
 * manner of the Spirit's proceeding in the work of regeneration. Ex- 
 
 * cept a man he born of water and of the Spirit : that is, except he be 
 
 * renewed by the Holy Ghost, working as water ; leaving the same 
 *^ effect upon the soul in cleansing and purifying it from sinful defile- 
 
 * ments, as water doth upon the body in washing off contracted dirt 
 
 * and filth. Nor, indeed, is this manner of expression strange to the 
 < holy scripture : for John Baptist, speaking of Christ, tells them, that 
 ' he should baptize them with the Holi/ Ghost and with fire : that is, 
 
 * he should baptize them with the Holy Ghost, working as fire,' which 
 
 * eats out and consumes the rust and dross of metals,' &c. Works, 
 ¥ol. ii.p. 468, 469. 
 
 * P. 24. 
 
34 
 
 tism were all, it was for the time then present 
 ' nothing ' to Nicodemus ; for our Lord only 
 ' intended to ordain' * the sacrament of baptism, 
 and had not yet ordained it. 
 
 The interview between Nicodemus and the 
 Saviour is understood to have taken place, at the 
 first passover after the latter had commenced his 
 public ministry. Nicodemus was a man of rank, 
 " a ruler of the Jews ;" a man of learning, " a 
 " master/' or teacher '' of Israel;" and a man of 
 religious seriousness. Solemnly impressed with 
 w hat he had seen and heard concerning Jesus, 
 and convinced that he was a '' teacher come from 
 " God/' since " no man could do the miracles 
 " that he did, except God were with him;" he 
 breaks through the prejudices of his education, 
 of his rank in life, and of his associates, and 
 visits our Lord " by night," to learn what his 
 doctrines really were, and what he was commis- 
 sioned to teach mankind. We may naturally 
 suppose him desirous of knowing, especially, what 
 Jesus had to communicate, of which the Jewish 
 instructors were not already in possession. To 
 this man, thus circumstanced, our blessed Lord 
 addressed himself with an apparent abruptness, 
 which only marks the importance of what he 
 
 * Tracts, p. 8. 
 
35 
 
 delivered. With a twofold solemn asseveration, 
 used only by himself, and by him only on the 
 most important occasions^ " Jesus answered and 
 *' said unto him. Verily, * verily, I say unto 
 '' thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot 
 " see the kingdom of God :" he can neither be a 
 true member of the church under the Messiah's 
 government here on earth, nor come to heaven 
 hereafter. 
 
 Now suppose our Lord to intend, by this 
 figure, an internal and radical ' change of heart,' 
 wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost, and 
 making a man '' a new creature," conformed to 
 "the image," and fit for the kingdom of God; 
 but without which fallen man can neither serve 
 God acceptably, nor be saved : suppose this, and 
 the address is evidently, by its weight and im- 
 portance, worthy of the speaker^ and wcrthj' of 
 the occasion. Then indeed our Lord, as we 
 should have expected him to do, fixes at once 
 upon a great, essential, and distinguishing doc- 
 trine of true religion ; a doctrine which had 
 been taught as he intimates,* in the Old 
 Testament, and which is taught in every part of 
 scripture, but which was overlooked by Jewish 
 teachers, as it has too often been by others also ; 
 
 * V. 10. 
 D 9- 
 
36 
 
 and which it was one design of his coming to 
 place in due prominency. Then^ indeed, he did 
 begin, with this '' master of Israel/' with what 
 is fundamental to all true and spiritual religion 
 among men. Then, as in the latter part of 
 his discourse he delivered the doctrine, which 
 relates to the justification of sinful man, 
 through the redemption of ' God the Son;' so, 
 in the former part he delivered that, which 
 relates to our sanctification by the power and 
 grace of ' God the Holy Ghost.' 
 
 But now put the case, that our Lord here 
 speaks only of baptism and what baptism con- 
 veys, and we can hardly forbear asking. What 
 was there so suitable to the occasion — especially 
 considering that Christian baptism was not yet 
 appointed ? What, that was of a nature sq 
 superior to pharisaical instruction ? What, in- 
 deed, that was calculated very clearly to convey 
 the idea intended ? In the language of one, 
 whose words I gladly adopt, ' I desire pro- 
 ' foundly to reverence the divine wisdom ' of my 
 Saviour, ' and to be silent in humble sub- 
 * mission, when he proposes instruction,' either 
 in substance or ' in language, such as I should 
 
 '^ not previously have expected .Yet it is 
 
 ' impossible for me to admit,' that baptism is, in 
 3 
 
37 
 
 ^ the present case/ even a principal subject of 
 which he treats, ' without far stronger proof 
 ' than has jet been adduced." * 
 
 Let us proceed with the discourse, and see to 
 which view of its design the sequel affords coun- 
 tenance. Nicodemus having expressed his asto- 
 nishment at what he heard, and how much he 
 was at a loss to comprehend its meaning, the 
 divine teacher replies by a repetition of his asser- 
 tion, attended, however, by considerable ex- 
 planation. '' Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
 '' Except a man be born of water and of the 
 " Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 *' God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; 
 " and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 
 " Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must be 
 *' born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, 
 " and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst 
 '' not tell whence it cometh, and whither it 
 '' goeth : so is every one that is born of the 
 '' Spirit." 
 
 Here occurs the only mention of water. It has 
 been sufficiently considered, and we will not 
 again dwell upon it. But here also the author 
 of the change intended is repeatedly declared : 
 the ^' Spirit," the Holy Spirit of God. The 
 
 * Scott's Remarks, &c. Vol. i. p. 183. 
 
38 
 
 ground of its necessity is shewn : " that which 
 " is born of the flesh is flesh" — carnal and cor- 
 rupt. * The design of it is pointed out, which 
 is to correct and remedy the corruption of human 
 nature : " that which is born of the Spirit is 
 " spirit " — partakes of the nature of its author, 
 and is spiritual, holy, and divine. Can this be 
 said of every one that is ^ baptized ?' In the 
 manner of its production, and in its various cir- 
 cumstances, like ^'^ the wind," it is * out of the 
 " reach of our rules and calculations:' but, like 
 the same powerful agent, in its effects it is per- 
 ceptible to all observers. In what follows, our 
 Lord intimates, that it was what '^ a master of 
 '' Israel" might have been expected to be well 
 acquainted with. Compared with the mysteries 
 of his person and his redemption, (of which he 
 proceeded to speak,) it was an " earthly thing," 
 and was continually taking place among men ; 
 it was abundantly taught in the scriptures 
 already in existence ; it was as much represented 
 by circumcision under the Old Testament, as it is 
 by baptism under the New;f and the necessity of 
 it might be evinced from principles of reason, 
 only by comparing together the nature of fallen 
 man, and the nature of " the kingdom of God." 
 
 All this perfectly agrees with the ideas of rege- 
 
 * See Rom. viii. 5— 9. Gal.v. 19— 21. ^ 
 
 t See close of c. iii. below. 
 
39 
 
 neration above explained : but how it can be 
 applied to baptism^ or to any thing which con- 
 stantly accompanies baptism^, I have yet to learn. 
 
 We proceed to Mr. M.'s other scriptural au 
 thorities. 
 
 His notice of Mark xvi. 15^ 16, is thus con- 
 nected. ' It is the doctrine of the holy scriptures, 
 ' that we are by baptism made heirs of salvation 
 ' through Christ ; and it is the declaration of our 
 
 * Saviour, that we cannot enter into the kingdom 
 ' of God, which is equivalent to the expression 
 ' that we cannot become heirs of salvation, ex- 
 ' cept w^e be born anew of water and of the 
 ' Spirit. If then we cannot become heirs of sal- 
 ' vation, except we be born of water and of the 
 ' Spirit, and if we be made heirs of salvation by 
 ' baptism, I see not how we are to evade the con- 
 ' sequence, that the outward washing of baptism 
 ' is attended by the sanctification of the Spirit, 
 
 and that we are born of water and of the Spirit, 
 ' when we are baptized. Thus when our Saviour, 
 ' on giving his commission to the Apostles to go, 
 
 * teach all nations, baptizing them ; accompanied 
 ' it with the promise, that he that believed and 
 ' was baptized should be saved, it must clearly be 
 ' understood, that the communication of the Holy 
 ' Spirit and spiritual regeneration were to attend 
 
40 
 
 ' on baptism, which is here expressly represented 
 ' as the means of salvation.'* 
 
 The last clause in this paragraph may serve as 
 a key to the whole. Our Saviour has said, " He 
 " that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; 
 " but he that believeth not shall be damned." 
 By a remarkable, and evidently a designed, omis- 
 sion in the second member,f he not only avoids 
 making baptism essential to salvation, but shews 
 his intention in this, as in all other places, to lay 
 the main stress upon believing. Baptism, as an 
 appointed means of grace, and the prescribed me- 
 thod of professing our faith, must not be omitted : 
 it is ' of great necessity where it may be had.' ;}; 
 But faith, true and lively faith, is the weighty and 
 essential qualification, which whoso hath shall 
 be saved, and whoso hath not shall be damned. 
 Now how marvellous is it to see Mr. M.,- under 
 these circumstances, and by means of this very 
 text, turning all our attention to baptism ! He 
 totally drops the latter clause, which is distin- 
 guished by the studied omission of baptism : and, 
 in the former clause, — ^' he that believeth and is 
 " baptized shall be saved" — he finds nothing to 
 remark but being baptized ! He takes no more 
 notice of the ''faith," without which (in subjects 
 
 * P. 29, «0. t See Whitby. % Liturgy. 
 
41 
 
 capable of faiths ) baptism itself^ as appears from 
 this passage^, shall avail nothing to salvation^ than 
 if it had never been mentioned ! His deduction, 
 his only deduction from the text is, '' baptism is 
 
 * here expressly represented as the means of salva- 
 •^tion !' On so sandy ground, rather yve may say, 
 on no ground at all, rests one of the fundamental 
 propositions of this paragraph, and all the reason- 
 ing built upon it ! 
 
 We may now see what authority Mr. M. has 
 for asserting, " It is the doctrine of the holy 
 ' Scriptures, that we are by baptism made heirs of 
 ' salvation.'* And, again, for ' argubig for bap- 
 ' tism being the vehicle of regeneration , because 
 
 ' IT IS THE VEHICLE OF SALVATION.' f And yet 
 
 again, for asserting, 'that baptism was ordained 
 
 * by Christ himself, with a promise of salvation 
 ' arinejoed to its legitimate administration.' "l We 
 now find, that all this is ' expressly represented ' 
 to be the case in the words, " He that believeth 
 " and is baptized shall be saved, and he that be- 
 " lieveth not shall be damned" — whether he be 
 baptized or unbaptized ! Christ promised salva- 
 
 * I do not forget the expression in our Catechism, which may 
 seem nearly equivalent to this. It shall be considered in its proper 
 place. See c. viii. 
 
 t P. 35. : P. 51. 
 
42 
 
 tion to faith and baptism : ergo, baptism, whether 
 accompanied by faith or not, is the vehicle of 
 ' salvation/ and ' a promise of salvation is annexed 
 ' to its legitimate administration !' * 
 
 Let us apply Mr. M/s mode of treatment in 
 another and not dissimilar case. In Romans x, 
 St. Paul says, " With the heart man believeth 
 " unto righteousness, and with the mouth con- 
 *' fession is made unto salvation." Now should 
 we, on the ground of this text, pass unnoticed 
 *^ the believing with the heart," and insist only 
 on ^' the confiession of the mouth," as the thing 
 required '' unto salvation," the absurdity would 
 be apparent: but it would be more excusable 
 than overlooking faith, and noticing only bap- 
 tism, in the passage of St. Mark ; both because 
 the connexion and dependence of the things 
 specified is less close in this instance than in that, 
 and because there is no such omission, as was 
 there noticed in the second clause. 
 
 * Let it not be pretended, that by ' legitimate administration ' 
 Mr. M. meant, administration to penitent, believing subjects. If 
 such were his meaning, the controversy would be at an end : and 
 the point would be conceded, that baptism might be administered, 
 in due form and order, to thousands, and no spiritual regeneration 
 conveyed. But it is perfectly evident that throughout his work he 
 uses the term ' rightly ' or ' legitimately administered,' in the same 
 sense as the Church appears to do, to signify administered in due 
 form and order, and by an authorized person. 
 
43 
 
 But Mr. M. may probably refer me to the 
 passage of the epistle to Titus^ which is immedi- 
 ately to come under consideration, as a proof 
 that baptism ' conveys salvation :' " He sa^ed 
 " us by the washing of regeneration." But, 
 allowing " the washing of regeneration " to be 
 baptism, it would be as unwarrantable to stop 
 at those words, and to omit " the renewing of the 
 '' Holy Ghost/' which follows, as it is to pass 
 by faith, and to notice only baptism in Mark xvi.; 
 or as it would be to stop at the words '' born of 
 *' water," in John iii. In either case we should 
 rest in the outward sign, and neglect the inward 
 grace. 
 
 Perhaps, again, he may adduce 1 Peter iii. 21 : 
 '' The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth 
 " now save us." And it may, indeed, appear ex- 
 traordinary, that Mr. M., instead of omitting it 
 altogether, should not have brought forward that 
 passage in the very body of his argument. But, 
 in fact, it is clogged v/ith such an explanation, 
 as must make it ill serve his cause, on any 
 occasion. In the very same breath, and in lan- 
 guage somewhat disparaging, as to the effect of 
 baptism where not ' rightly received,' the apostle 
 adds, " not the putting away of the filth of the 
 ' flesh," by the mere outward observance of the 
 rite, ^'but the answer of a good conscience 
 
ISfc- , 
 
 44 
 
 *' TOWARDS GOD."* What can this " answer of 
 " a good conscience "' mean^ but sincerity in the 
 professions made^ in the repentance and faith 
 avowed, in baptism ? These are ' the means ' of 
 saving us, and not the mere sacrament of baptism, 
 which, without these, the apostle considers as no 
 more than '' putting away the filth of the flesh;" 
 a mere washing of the body, or, at best, only an 
 ' external and relative sanctification.' 
 
 On Tit. iii. 4—7., Mr. M., substituting, for 
 " the washing of regeneration " *' the laver of 
 " regeneration," observes, ' By comparing together 
 * the several parts of this passage it is evident, that 
 ' baptism is here represented as the mean through 
 ' which, or the instrument by which, the Holy 
 ' Spirit of God regenerates us ; and thereby makes 
 ' us heirs of that eternal life, which the mercy 
 ' of God our Saviour hath provided for those, 
 ' whom he justifies and saves.' f 
 
 We will allow that the expression " washing 
 '' of regeneration" alludes to baptism ; but much 
 in the same way as "born of water" does in John 
 
 * It is remarkable that the Bp. of Lincohi, in quoting this text, 
 takes only ihe beginning and the end : " baptism doth now save us, 
 " by the resurrection of Jesus Christ :" entirely omitting the expla- 
 nation, which occupies the middle between these two clauses !— Hc- 
 futation, p. 84. 
 
 t P. 31. * 
 
45 
 
 iii. And it may safely be conceded, that baptism 
 is '^ a means' of regeneration^, without its at all 
 following;, that spiritual regeneration must always 
 accompany baptism, and can never be conveyed 
 by any other means. — The marked distinction, 
 now attempted to be established, between "" the 
 ''^ washing of regeneration," and '^'^ the renewing 
 " of the Holy Ghost," in this passage, as if the 
 one referred to what takes place at baptism only, 
 and the other exclusively to subsequent improve- 
 ment,* seems to have little foundation. The two 
 things are connected together in the text, as 
 closely, as "^ born of water and of the Spirit " are 
 in John iii. 5 : and it would seem that there is 
 no authority for thus separating them. If the 
 former refer to baptism as ' the outward sign,* 
 the latter, I should conceive, expresses '^the in- 
 
 * ward and spiritual grace/ The profoundly ac* 
 curate Bishop Pearson seems to have had no idea 
 of any such distinction of the clauses. ' The 
 ' second part of the office of the Holy Ghost in 
 
 * the sanctification of man,' he says, ' is the rege- 
 ' neration and renovation of liim.' And then, 
 having quoted this text, he presently adds : ' If 
 ' we live in the Spirit, quickened by his reno- 
 ' VATiON, we must also walk in the Spirit.' He 
 applies 'the term renovation, taken from this very 
 text, to the first 'quickening,' or regeneration of 
 
 * See Tracts, p. 27, 28, 41, 42. 
 
46 
 
 men.* So likewise Bishop Bradford, in his dis- 
 course from this text, which till lately was cir- 
 culated by the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge : The inquiry, he says, ' will lead us 
 to the ' true notion of regeneration, both when 
 ' it is applied to baptism, (as it frequently is, ) 
 
 * and when it particularly denotes the renewing 
 ' of the mind by the Divine Spirit/ f 
 
 On 1 Cor. vi, 11, " washed, sanctified, justi- 
 " fied," Mr. M., having remarked, that the ' wash- 
 ' ing of baptism is mentioned as the instrument 
 
 * by which both the blessings ' of sanctification and 
 justification ' are conveyed,' adds, ' It is true, 
 ' that in this passage there occurs no such ex- 
 ' pression as regeneration, or the being born 
 ' again ; but, as it was before argued, if a person 
 ' must be born again, in order to be saved or justi- 
 ' fied, and if by baptism he is saved or justified, 
 ' it then necessarily follows that by baptism he is 
 ' born again.' J 
 
 The premises and the conclusion here hang 
 together by a very loose and illogical connexion. 
 
 * In order to be saved or justified' a man must be 
 born again. Of course his being ' born again' 
 must, in order of nature, at least, precede and 
 
 * On the Creed, Art. vHi. 
 
 t Society's Edit. 1810. p. 11. % P. 31, 32. 
 
47 
 
 make way for his ' being saved or justified.* But 
 by baptism, it is here said, the latter blessing is 
 conveyed : and hence it is inferred that by bap- 
 tism also the antecedent blessing is conveyed! 
 Let us illustrate this reasoning. In order to being 
 elected a member of parliament, a man must 
 possess a certain qualification: but by the suffrages 
 of the voters he is elected a member of parlia- 
 ment : ergo, by the suffrages of the voters he pos- 
 sesses the qualification ! Such appears to be the 
 logic of the passage : nor is its theology, I con- 
 ceive, much better. But the remarks already 
 made, in treating of Mark xvi., may suffice for the 
 present occasion also. 
 
 From Col. ii. 12, 13, Mr. M. says, ' the argu- 
 ' ment is more direct/ ' What can be plainer or 
 ' stronger to the point. Dead in their sins, and 
 ' buried in baptism, by baptism also they were 
 " raised and quickened by God.'* The apostle's 
 words are, " risen with him by the faith of the 
 '^ operation of God." But this Mr. M. quite over- 
 looks, as he had before done the whole subject 
 of faith, in Mark xvi. 15, 16. Suppose, then, 
 baptism administered to an adult who had no true 
 faith, would he be " raised and quickened" by it ? 
 — The real question between us, and it is needful 
 frequently to re-state it, is this, Does baptism ne- 
 
 ♦ P, 32. 
 
48 
 
 cessarily or always convey spiritual blessings, 
 irrespectively of the state of mindj the ' repen- 
 ' tance and faith;,' of the receiver ? 
 
 ' To the Romans/ Mr. M. says, (referring to 
 Rom. vi. 4, 11,) the apostle '^ employs the same 
 ' figure, describing baptism as a burial, wherein 
 ' they were dead unto sin and alive unto God : 
 ' adding withal a particular, which confirms an 
 
 * opinion, presently to be insisted on, that no other 
 ' than baptismal regeneration is possible in this 
 
 * world/ What is '^the particular' which confirms 
 so momentous a conclusion ? It is,that Christ '^'^ died 
 '' unto sin once" and ' no more,' and that we are 
 '■' to reckon ourselves likewise," ' in a like or in 
 ' the same manner/ to be dead indeed unto sin, 
 " but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our 
 " Lord !" ' Does not the language of the apostle,' 
 Mr. M. asks, ' warrant the argument, that we 
 ' are born anew in baptism, in baptism exclu- 
 ' sively ?' * I reply. Does it warrant any such 
 argument? I beg the reader to pause, and judge 
 of this for himself. — On the ground of Christ's 
 having " once died unto sin," and ever after " liv- 
 " ing unto God," the apostle exhorts Christians 
 '^ to reckon themselves ia like manner dead unto 
 '' sin, and alive unto God," and therefore not to 
 suffer '' sin to reign in their mortal body, that 
 
 * P. 32, 33. 
 
49 
 
 " they should obey it in the lusts thereof." No 
 commentator^, I apprehend, before Mr. M., ever 
 imagined, that the point of comparison Wa.^, the 
 ONENESS of Christ's death, and the oneness of the 
 mystical death of Christians ! Surely had this been 
 the point of comparison, it should have been no- 
 ticed in the application of the case to Christians. 
 " Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be " once 
 ^' dead indeed unto sin," &c. — However, I have 
 no wish to contend for a second death unto sin, 
 where ' a death unto sin and a new birth unto 
 * righteousness ' appear really and practically to 
 have taken place. But ' the death unto sin ' of 
 many, who ' call themselves Christians,' has been 
 meve\y in profession, and not in fact:* and ac- 
 cordingly the church very wisely considers it ra- 
 ther as matter of admonition, that ' we who are 
 ' baptized should die from sin/ than of assump- 
 tion, that we are dead to it, f 
 
 * See Bp. Bradford's Tract on baptismal and spiritual regeneration, 
 t ' Exhortation to the Godfathers and Godmothers,' at the close 
 of the baptismal service. — I do not feel myself called upon to notice 
 any of Mr. M.'s authorities, except the scriptures and the church 
 I may here however just observe, that he quotes St. Austin for the 
 assertion, that there is ' no one who does not die unto sin in bap- 
 * tism.' P. 39. He gives us no reference for the passage : for aught, 
 therefore, that appears, it may mean no more, than that everyone does 
 this hy profession. ' Baptism doth represent unto us our profession, 
 ' which is,' &c. &c. In this sense it is true. But he must be a hardy 
 believer, indeed, in, I must call it, the opus operutum, who will main- 
 tarn, that a wilful hypocrite, coming to baptism from secular mo- 
 tives, and returning from it to his former sins, does actually " di« 
 
 £ 
 
50 
 
 I subjoin a quotation on these two passages of 
 the epistles to the Romans and the Colossians^ 
 which appears to me much to the purpose. 
 
 ' Here three particulars are mentioned^ in al- 
 ' lusion to the deaths burial, and resurrection of 
 ' Christ ; to whom believers are, in a figurative 
 ' sense, conformed. They become dead to sin, 
 
 * as he died unto sin once. They are buried, as 
 ' he was buried : they arise from among the dead 
 ' in sin, as he arose from the dead. It is evident, 
 ' that ceasing from sin, and becoming incapable 
 ' of living any longer therein; that entire se- 
 ' paration from the former course of ungodliness, 
 ' and from the pollutions of this evil world ; and 
 ' the beginning and progress of a new and holy 
 ' life, from newness of heart ; are signified by 
 ' this death, burial, and r.esurrection. Of these 
 ' things baptism is the outward sign : and, in 
 
 * adults, it is an open profession of them. Whe- 
 
 * ther any reference was intended to the outward 
 
 * administration by immersion, in the word bu- 
 
 * ried, it is not needful here to determine. How- 
 ' ever that be decided, it is manifest, that neither 
 ' outward baptism, nor any thing inseparably 
 ' connected with it, can be exclusively meant ; 
 
 " unto sin " in his baptism ! Sure I am that our church holds no 
 such docti-ine. 'In such only as icortluly receive the samehava' 
 the sacraments < a wholesome effect or operation.' Art. xxv. 
 
51 
 
 unless all^ who are baptized with water, are so 
 dead to sift, and so buried from it, as not to 
 walk any longer therein. — New converts pro- 
 fessed these things, at their baptism ; and if, 
 with the washing of water, there was also the 
 answer of a good conscience toxoards God, they 
 would thenceforth walk in newness of life : but 
 not otherwise. For if zve have been planted 
 together in the likeness of his death, we shall 
 be also in the likeness of his resurrection. 
 Knozving this, that our old man is crucifed 
 zvith hifn, that the body of sin might be de- 
 stroyed ; that henceforth we should not serve 
 sin. — Even true Christians need exhorting to 
 act consistently with their profession ; and, 
 much more, collective bodies : so that the sub- 
 sequent exhortations do not at all invalidate 
 this conclusion, which is drawn by the apostle 
 in the most decided language. When the 
 apostle said. As many of you as have bee?i bap- 
 tized into Christ have put on Christ i—for ye 
 are all one in Christ Jesus ; and if ye be 
 Christ* s, then are ye Abrahatii's seed, and heirs 
 according to the promise ; did he mean that 
 hypocrites, receiving outward baptism, became 
 one with Christ, the children of believing Abra- 
 ham, and heirs of the promised blessings ? or 
 did he not rather intend to express the same, 
 as when he said. By one Spirit zve are baptized 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 ' into one body ? The outward baptism admits 
 ' men into the visible church : but the baptism 
 " of the Spirit alone constitutes them living 
 ' members of the body of Christ in heaven.' * 
 
 On the passage from Eph. v. 25 — 27, Mr. M. 
 says, ' Sanctis cation and purity, unspotted and 
 ' unblemished holiness, are here attributed to th» 
 ' church of Christ, as the effect of the washing 
 ' of water. But what water could produce such 
 
 * an effect without the operation of the Spirit ? 
 ' And what rite is performed by their joint ope^ 
 ' ration, but the sacrament of baptism ? And by 
 
 * what appropriate scriptural term is the effect 
 ' of their united influence to be denominated, 
 
 * but by that of regeneration ? ' + 
 
 Not to urge, that this ' unspotted and unble- 
 
 * mished holiness ' seems rather to refer to the 
 heavenly state, when the redemption of the 
 church shall have attained its consummation, \ I 
 observe, that the apostle appears here, in con- 
 formity with many other scriptures, to ascribe it 
 rather to the instrumentality of '' the word,'' 
 than to that of " water." The sentence is, 
 " That he might sanctify and cleanse it v-ith the 
 " washing of water by the word." So we are 
 
 * Scott's Remarks, &c. vol. i. p. 206, 207. 
 
 t P. 33. X Bp. Pearson on the Cre«d, Art. ix. • 
 
53 
 
 exhorted in our homily on the sacrament, 
 ' Wash yourselves with the living waters of 
 'God's word.' Mr. M., however, entirely passes 
 over the terms '' by the word/' just as he had 
 done FAITH in Mark xvi. and Coloss. ii. — But, 
 in point of fact^ is the whole visible church of 
 Christ brought to a state of actual holiness, 
 either by the washing of baptism, or by that 
 and the ministration of the word united ? If 
 not, it will not follow from this text, that ' the 
 sanctification of the Spirit ' always accompanies 
 any outward means. 
 
 The subject of ' the joint operation ' of wa- 
 ter and the Spirit has been before considered. 
 Mr. M. here asks, ' By what appropriate scrip- 
 ' tural term is the effect of their united influence 
 ' to be denominated, but by that of regenera- 
 ' tion ? ' Who would not imagine from this, 
 that the term regeneration was of frequent oc- 
 currence in scripture, and that it was, with suf- 
 ficient distinctness, appropriated to express this 
 effect ? Now the fact is, that the substantive 
 itself occurs but twice in the whole New Testa- 
 ment : and, in one of those two instances, there 
 seems sufficient reason to conclude, that it refers 
 to quite a different subject.* And, with respect 
 
 * See Matt. xix. 28. Tit. iii. 3. and Parkhurst on tsaXiyytna-ia, : 
 also quotation from Bp. Hopkins, close of c. vii. below. 
 
54 
 
 to the verbs of kindred import, we shall ere long 
 see how rarely they appear to be used with any 
 allusion to baptism. So little authority is there 
 for speaking of " regeneration " as the ' appro- 
 ' priate scriptural term ' for ' the effect of the 
 ' united influence ' of water and the Spirit ! 
 
 ' Similar questions/ to those which he has 
 pressed from the foregoing passage, Mr. M. says 
 ' arise from ' 1 Cor. xii. 13 : " Qy one Spirit are 
 '' we all baptized into one body." * His in- 
 ference seems to be, (for it is not very clearly 
 stated, ) that every one who is baptized is a par- 
 taker of the Holy Spirit. Now, in the con- 
 clusion of this same verse, the apostle adds : 
 '' and have all been made to drink into one Spi- 
 " rit." In which words he is understood to al- 
 lude to the sacramental cup, as he had before 
 done to the baptismal water, f The same rea- 
 soning, therefore, which shews from the begin- 
 ning of the verse, that every one in baptism par- 
 takes of the spiritual grace, would shew, from 
 the conclusion of it, that every one does the 
 same in the Lord's supper, without respect to 
 the state of mind in which he receives it: a 
 doctrine in direct hostilitv to that of the church 
 of England. — That we ' divest ' baptism ' of that 
 f -which gives it its value,' (as Mr. M. goes on to 
 
 * P. 33. t Locke, Doddridge, &c. 
 
65 
 
 charge us with doing/* ) by denying that it 
 uniformly conveys spiritual regeneration^ is just 
 as truCj as that Mr. M. divests the Lord's sup- 
 per of all that renders it valuable, when he de- 
 clares, as I presume he does, that only ' the 
 ' faithful/ in that sacrament, receive ' the body 
 ' and blood of Christ.'f 
 
 The simple fact appears to be, that in this, 
 as in innumerable other passages, the sacred 
 writer addresses persons according to their pro- 
 fessions. They were members of the visible 
 ^' body " or church of Christ ; they were made 
 such by baptism : and they professed to be 
 true members of his spiritual church: J and, sup- 
 posing them to be what they professed them- 
 selves, then indeed they were '' baptized into 
 '' that one body," by the " one Spirit " which 
 ' governs and sanctifies the whole,' and they 
 *' did all drink into that one Spirit/' 
 
 * P. 34. f Catechism, Communion Service, &c. 
 
 X I intend no other distinction here, than what Hooker (B. iii.) 
 and Pearson (on the Creed, Art. ix.) have laid down. ' The visible 
 
 * church of Christ on earth, is a sort of people who profess the name 
 ' of Christ, and own his doctrine; joining together in a holy society 
 
 * and communion of worship, where it can be enjoyed. The invisible 
 ' church of Christ on earth, is a number of true believers, who have 
 
 * internal and invisible communion with Jesus Christ, by their faith 
 
 * and his Spirit. The visible church is of a much larger extent than 
 
 * the invisible : for it comprehends hypocrites, and too many ungodly 
 
 * persons,' as well as holy characters, &c. Bp. Hopkins, vol. ii. p. 419. 
 
56 
 
 With respect to Acts ii. 38, and x. 47, 48, 
 from which Mr. M. says ' the same inference is 
 ' to be drawn/ * we may observe, that no one 
 doubts, that he who believes in Christ is to pro- 
 fess his faith in baptism : and that baptism is the 
 appointed external ' seal ' f of *' the remission 
 " of sins " to him who " repents and is baptized." 
 But does it follow, that every one who is bap- 
 tized is regenerated and pardoned, whether he 
 repents or not ? — -All the instances thus adduced 
 are instances of adults receiving baptism, and 
 must be discussed as such, without reference, at 
 present, to the case of infants. 
 
 ■ Finally, some observations of Mr. M.'s on 
 ' Ananias's admonition to Paul, after his mira- 
 ' culous conversion,' to '' arise and be baptized, 
 *' and wash away his sins, calling on the name 
 *' of the Lord," ;j; have been before remarked 
 upon. It may be sufficient here to observe, that, 
 as Paul was already, by Mr. M.'s acknowledg- 
 ment, ' converted,' ' renewed in heart,' and ' obe- 
 ' dient,' § he must also have been in a state of 
 pardon and acceptance : unless a man can be 
 penitent, believing, and obedient, and yet unfor- 
 
 * P, 34. t Art. xxvii. 
 
 X Acts xxii. 16. Tracts, p. 34, 35. Compare p. 43. 
 
 S p. 43. 
 
57 
 
 ffiven.* All, therefore, that he could want was 
 ' the visible sign and seal ' of forgiveness ; f and 
 to have his sins " washed away/' according to 
 Hooker's language ' in the eye of the church.' J 
 But, supposing that the words bore any other 
 sense, would it follow from the sins of the ' con- 
 ' verted ' and ' renewed ' Paul being " washed 
 " away " in baptism, that the sins of an uncon- 
 verted, unrenewed Jew, for instance, hypocriti- 
 cally receiving baptism, would also be washed 
 awav ? ^^ho can believe this? Yet such must 
 be the case, if baptism rightly administered 
 must always convey spiritual grace. 
 
 Such then is the amount of Mr. M.'s direct 
 evidence from scripture, by which it was to be 
 ' incontrovertibly ' proved, that baptism rightly 
 administered always conveys regeneration, and 
 
 * that no other than baptismal reg.eneration is 
 ' possible in this world.' If ever Mr. M. should 
 have an important cause to maintain, in any 
 court accustomed to receive and appreciate evi- 
 dence, I hope he will have something of more 
 weight to bring forward: otherwise I will ven- 
 ture to foretell the issue of his suit. 
 
 * See'Acts ii. 19 : xiii. 39 : Jolih iii. 14 — 18, 36 : and iimumerablo 
 other places. 
 
 t * The promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be 
 
 * the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed ' 
 in baptism. Art, xxvii. J Tracts, p. 43. 
 
58 
 
 But besides his direct proofs from scripture, 
 Mr. M. has a negative argument^ of which he 
 makes a considerable use. Reasoning of this 
 kind;, which infers that a thing is not, merely 
 because its existence is not declared ; or that it 
 is, merely because it is not denied to be ; is al- 
 ways of a very suspicious character. It is well 
 known how serviceable it has been found by in- 
 fidels, who have chosen to construe the omission 
 of a fact by one evangelist, into a denial of it 
 as recorded by another ; the silence of Josephus, 
 or some other ancient historian, into a refutation 
 of scripture history. The argument, therefore, 
 is to be viewed, ^ priori, with some distrust, 
 though it may not always be fallacious. Let us, 
 however, hear Mr. M. 
 
 * If ever (he says) the new birth be not con- 
 ' veyed by baptism rightly administered ; or if 
 ' when once regenerated, it be (I will not say 
 ' necessary, but) possible for any one to be born 
 ' again, doubtless there is scriptural authority to 
 ' that purpose. Let the authority then be ad- 
 ' duced.' — Of ' the new birth not being always 
 ' conveyed by baptism,' proof may, perhaps, be 
 adduced hereafter : and, as to a person ' once re- 
 '■ generated' being regenerated again, those, at 
 least, who hold with Calvin the doctrine of final 
 perseverance, will agree with Mr. M., that it 
 5 
 
59 
 
 cannot be ; but that such a person evermore 
 continues regenerate.* But to proceed : Mr. M. 
 demands ' Let it be shewn from holy writ, that 
 ' any person, to whom baptism was rightly admi- 
 
 * nistered, was not regenerated ; let it be shewn, 
 ' that any person, having been once baptized, 
 ' is described under any circumstances whatever 
 ' of repentance, reformation, renovation, or con- 
 ' version, to have been again regenerated ; let it 
 ' be shewn, that the apostles, who are per- 
 
 * petually exhorting their Christian converts to 
 ' changes such as these, do once exhort them to 
 
 * become regenerate ; do once enforce the neces- 
 ' sity of it ; or even affirm, or at least insinuate, 
 ' its possibility ; and we may then perceive some 
 ' reason for wavering in our belief.' f 
 
 Here the unfairness of the negative argument 
 discovers itself. Perhaps it will appear, that 
 some of the things demanded admit of being 
 done. That others cannot be done, may be 
 owing to mere omissions in the concise histories 
 of scripture ; and particularly to the very sparing 
 use of the terms " regenerate " and " born 
 '' again," in the sacred writings. From the 
 above passage, as well as from what was before 
 said of ' the appropriate scriptural term,' it 
 might be imagined, that nothing was more com- 
 
 * See also p. 48. - f ?• 40, 41. 
 
CO 
 
 mon than to find the apostles, in addressing wi' 
 baptized persons, insisting upon regeneration, to- 
 tidem verbis. But how far ihis is from being the 
 case has been already, in some degree, shewn. 
 So seldom does this language occur, on any occa- 
 sion, that one of our assailants pronounced the 
 passage in John iii. to be perfectly ' unique,' and 
 unparalleled in scripture ! The sacred writers 
 do, indeed, continually insist on what is equi- 
 valent to regeneration, according tc our views 
 of its nature; but generally under other terms: 
 while they say so little of baptism, as must con- 
 stitute a much more remarkable omission, ac- 
 cording to Mr, M.'s views, than any with which 
 he has endeavoured to embarrass us. 
 
 But to confine ourselves, for the present, to 
 the passage just quoted. — It is not true, that 
 the apostles " are perpetually exhorting their 
 ' Christian converts to changes such as ' ^ con- 
 ' version : ' the reason of which, and of much 
 of that omission from which Mr. M. argues, 
 is,* that they generally assume such persons to 
 be both " converted," and '' walking in newness 
 '^ of life,'' as well as baptized. And to the de- 
 mand, ' Let it be shewn, that the apostles do 
 ' once exhort them to become regenerate,' it may 
 be replied (the proper sort of reply to an argu- 
 
 * See c. ix. below. 
 
6*1 
 
 ment of this kind> ) Let it be shewn, where thej 
 exhorted Ihem to become * regenerate/ even be- 
 fore they were baptized.''^ They exhorted them, it 
 is true, " to be baptized ;" but it would be beg- 
 ging the question at issue, to assume that this ig 
 the same thing with being regenerated. 
 
 In a subsequent passage Mr. M. proceeds in a 
 like strain. ' Simon Magus, who (as Bishop 
 
 * Wilson says) Jiad received the tvashing of re- 
 ' generation^ and so was entitled to pardon upoti 
 
 * his 7'epentance, was exhorted by the apostle to 
 ^ repent of his wickedness, and to pray God, if 
 'perhaps the thought of his heart might be for- 
 ' given : and all of us are instructed to pray, 
 ' agreeably to apostolical language, that, being 
 ' regenerated and adopted for the children of 
 ^ God, we may be daily renewed by his Holy 
 ' Spirit. But where are we instructed to pray 
 ' after baptism for regeneration ? ' f And where, 
 
 * ' The apostles never called on the unbaptized Jews or gentiles to 
 
 * regenerate themselves ; any more than on professed Christians, who 
 < had acted contrary to their profession.' Scott's Remarks, &c. vol. i. 
 p. 176, 177., 
 
 . f P. 42. It seems that the same society, which now circulates Mr. 
 M.'s tracts, could, till lately, have answered this question. In a tract 
 intitled * Directions for a devout and decent behaviour in the public 
 
 * Worship of God,' very commonly prefixed to the Prayer Books 
 issued by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, there is 
 given an Alphabetical Table of the Collects, reduced under proper 
 heads. And as late as 1812 the following v/as one article : 
 
 ' Regenejiation. a Prayer for it. Collect for Christmas-day.' 
 Sine*! that period, it would seem, the conductors of tha society's 
 
62 
 
 (it may be answered, J in scripture at least, are 
 we in terms, instructed so to pray before baptism ? 
 ' Where,' Mr. M. proceeds, ' where is it inti- 
 ' mated that the (incestuous) Corinthian was 
 ' born again subsequently to his fall ?' And where, 
 I rejoin, is he spoken of as ' born again' at all ? 
 ' Where,' Mr. M. asks, ' was Simon Magus ad- 
 ' monished of the necessity of undergoing another 
 'new birth?' And where, I ask in return, is it 
 said that he had undergone ' a new birth' at all ? 
 or even that he had ever been admonished con- 
 cerning a ' new birth ?' *^And where,' Mr.M. adds, 
 ' is St. Paul described as regenerated, until Ana- 
 * nias baptized him and washed away his sins ?* 
 And where, it may be asked again, is he so de- 
 scribed at that time ? But the fact is, baptism 
 and regeneration are so completely identified in 
 Mr. M.'s mind, that he can no where read of a 
 person's being baptized, but he seems to think 
 that he also actually reads of his being regene- 
 rated. 
 
 We see, then, of how much force and value 
 are these negative arguments, which (reversing 
 a received maxim ) assume, that silence is equiva- 
 lent to denial ! . 
 
 affairs have become better informed, and have, in consequence, as I 
 understand, changed the term regeneration for renovation \ — S«e 
 Christian Observer, Sept. 1815. p. 586. 
 
<( 
 
 63 
 
 The case of Simon Magus deserves a little more 
 distinct notice. It is said, indeed, that he " be- 
 " lieved," and that, " when he was baptized, he 
 '^ continued with Philip, and wondered, behold- 
 *' ing the miracles and signs which were done." 
 But he soon shewed what was the worth of his 
 faith, and what were the motives bv which he 
 was influenced. " When Simon saw, that through 
 the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holj 
 Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, 
 " Give me this power also, that on whomsoever I 
 " lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost." 
 He seems to have conceived, that this was a new 
 and more powerful way, and that it might conse- 
 quently be made a more gainful way than he had 
 hitherto practised of fascinating, or " betwitch- 
 " ing the people," and establishing his character 
 as '^ some great one." Peter therefore said unto 
 him, with holy indignation, '^Tliy money perish 
 *' with thee, because thou hast thought that the 
 " gift of God might be purchased with money ! 
 " Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter : 
 " for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 
 " Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and 
 " pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart 
 " may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou 
 art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of 
 iniquity." — Yet this is the man who is to be 
 held forth as a regenerate character ! that is, as 
 
 
64 
 
 one who was a partaker of ^ supernatural grace* 
 — of ^a new principle of life, and of action' — of 
 * the sanctification of the Spirit' — which ' makes 
 ' us heirs of salvation/ and * entitles us to eternal 
 ' life ! ' We are to believe all this, and moreover 
 that he had not lost the blessing, so as that it 
 should be ' necessary or even possible ' for him 
 to receive any further regeneration ' in this 
 'world;' though St. Peter pronounces him to 
 have " neither part nor lot " in the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit, but to be '^ in the gall of bitterness 
 " and in the bond of iniquity ! " We are to be- 
 lieve it allj because he had been baptized^ and 
 because^ forsooth^ he is not positively recorded 
 to have been ' admonished of the necessity ' of 
 any further regeneration — a term v^'hich is never 
 once used with respect to him ! 
 
 I remember a controversy being carried on, in a 
 periodical work, concerning this same Simon the 
 Sorcerer, in which one of the parties undertook 
 to prove, that he w as a converted and good man, 
 because St. Peter exhorted him to repent and 
 pray. The pseudo-Calvinist argued that he was, 
 in a high sense of the word, converted, because 
 he was exhorted to so much as repentance and 
 prayer : Mr. M. argues that he was, likewise in 
 a high sense of the, word, regenerate, because 
 he was exhorted to no more, than repentance and 
 
65 
 
 prayer ! I must say that I cauld as sooft agre? 
 with the onCj as with the other. 
 
 How much more rational, and surely more 
 scriptural also, is it to believe^ that in his case 
 baptism, not being ' worthily received/ was at- 
 tended with no ' wholesome effect or opera- 
 • tion !'* that, being unaccompanied with " the 
 *' answer op a good conscience towards God/' 
 it was no more than, as St. Peter speaks, '' the 
 " putting away of the filth of the flesh," f a 
 mere washing of the body, or at most only a 
 ' relative, external, and ecclesiastical sanctifica- 
 ' tion.' + 
 
 The case of Simon Magus, however, is one, 
 which may furnish salutary admonition to many 
 of those, whom Mr. M. teaches to consider 
 themselves as regenerate; and who might be 
 disposed, on that ground, to drav/ more favour- 
 able conclusions concerning their state, than 
 their habitual temper and conduct would war- 
 rant. If one, who is by baptism regenerate, may 
 yet be " in the gall of bitterness and the bond 
 '' of iniquity," and " without part or lot" in the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit; it certainly behoves us to 
 beware of placing too much dependence on our 
 baptismal regeneration. And, again, were it 
 
 * Art. XXV. t ^ Pet. iii. 21. % Bp. Hopkins. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 always distinctly admitted^ that so great a change 
 may be necessary for us, notwithstanding our 
 baptismal regeneration^ as it would have required, 
 to set " the heart" of Simon Magus '' right in the 
 ^' sight of God ; " there need not be much dis- 
 pute about the name by which that change 
 should be called. It is^ however, I am satisfied, 
 the change itself, and not merely the name, that 
 is in dispute. 
 
67 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Subject continued — Another Series of scrip- 
 tural Passages concerning Regefieration — O'r- 
 cumcision, and the Jezvs under the Old Testa- 
 ment Dispensation. 
 
 In ihe preceding chapter^ I have examined the 
 scriptural authorities, which Mr. M. has adduced 
 in support of his sentiments concerning the effect 
 of baptism. In the present^ I intend to bring 
 forward a number of passages, which bear pretty 
 directly upon the subject, but which he has either 
 wholly passed over, or only just alluded to. 
 
 I observe, then, that he admits the terms, '^'be- 
 '' gotten again," '' born of God," '" the sons of 
 " God," to be equivalent to one another, and to 
 regeneration.* He asks, indeed, how these terms 
 can be applied ' to large societies of believers,' 
 ' unless their regeneration was the effect of an or- 
 
 * dinance, of which all Christians in general par- 
 '' take ? and if so, of what ordinance but of bap- 
 ' tism ;' We shall see hereafter, I trust, that the 
 application of these and similar terms to ' large 
 
 * .societies ' of Christians, admits of a much more 
 
 « P. 35 and 44. 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 satisfactory explication, than the one here pro- 
 posed. But for the present we are concerned 
 only with the admission, that the expressions, 
 " sons of God," " begotten of God," and " born 
 '' of God," mean, for substance, the same as rege- 
 neration. 
 
 Let us then examine the passages in which 
 these terms occur, and see whether they appear to 
 refer to baptism. 
 
 No expression of the kind, I believe, occurs in 
 the first three gospels. Among the beatitudes, 
 indeed, we read, '' Blessed are the peace-makers, 
 " for they shall be called the children of God." * 
 But I will not urge this. 
 
 John i. 11 — 13. may, therefore, be considered 
 as the first place in which this language is used. 
 *' He came to his own, and his own received him 
 " not. But as many as received him, to them 
 *' gave he power to become the sons of God, 
 *' even to them that believe on his name : which 
 *' were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the 
 " flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
 Here '' receiving" Christ by " believing in hii 
 *' name," and also the will and power of God, are 
 mentioned in connexion with being " born of 
 
 * See also Luke xx. 36 r 
 
69 
 
 God/' and " becoming the sons of God :" but not a 
 word of baptism. To imagine even an allusion 
 to it * is perfectly gratuitous. Indeed it hag 
 been argued with some force, that this studied 
 exclusion of '' the will of man " is totally inappli- 
 cable to the case of baptism^ where the will of 
 the minister;, and of other parties concerned, 
 must concur.f 
 
 The next instance is Rom. viii. 14 : " As many 
 " as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the 
 '' SONS OF God." Whether this comports with 
 the idea, that all baptized persons are " the sons 
 " of God," every one must judge for himself. If 
 to be " the sons of God " be the same as to be re- 
 generate ; and if none be the sons of God but 
 they who are " led by the Spirit of God ;" I fear 
 this will provCj what Mr. M. demands to see 
 proved, that even many persons ' to whom bap- 
 ' tism has been rightly administered, have not been 
 * regenerated.' "l 
 
 Another passage is 2 Cor. vi. 17 ^ 18 : " Where- 
 *' fore come out from among them, and be ye se- 
 " parate, saith the Lord, and touch not the un- 
 " clean thing, and I will receive you, and will be 
 " a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and 
 *' DAUGHTERS, saitli the Lord Almighty." What, 
 
 * Tracts, p. 8. 
 
 ^ Vid. plura, Scott's Remarks, &c. vol. i. p. 193. J P. 40. 
 
70 
 
 again, do we iind concerning baptism in this pas- 
 sage ? I fear it must furnish similar inferences to 
 the last. 
 
 Gal. iii. 26, 27 : " Ye are all the children of 
 " God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of 
 ^' you as have been baptized into Christ have put 
 ^' on Christ." Here, indeed, baptism is mentioned. 
 Yet, even here, it is to their " faith," rather than 
 to their baptism, that their being the '' children 
 '^ of God " is ascribed. 
 
 James i. 18: '"^ Of his own will begat he us 
 " with the word of truth, that we should be a 
 " kind of first fruits of his creatures." Here 
 "" the word of truth," not baptism, is pointed out 
 as the ^instrument of our regeneration :' as it is 
 also of our sanctification in Ephesians v. 26, 
 before noticed. 
 
 1 Pet. i. 3 : '' Blessed be the God and Father 
 " of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to 
 '^ his abundant mercy hath begotten us again 
 " to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus 
 '' Christ from the dead," &c. 
 
 Ibid. 93 : ''Being born again, not of cor- 
 "^ ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word 
 " of God, which livelh and abideth for ever." 
 Here "the mercy of God" and ''the resurrection 
 
71 
 
 *' of Christ " are noticed^ and " the word of God " 
 is again assigned as the ' instrument ' of regene- 
 ration. Mr. M. alludes to these verses : * but not 
 a hint do they contain concerning baptism, un- 
 less it is to be taken for granted that ^' born 
 " again " means, of course, " baptized." 
 
 We come now to the epistles of St. John. And 
 we may observe, that the same apostle, who, with 
 such evident seriousness and impression, records 
 our Lord's discourse with Nicodemus on being 
 born again, himself employs similar language 
 more frequently than all the other sacred writers 
 together. 
 
 1 John ii. 29 : " If ye know that he is right 
 '* eous, ye know that every one that doeth right- 
 *' eousness is born of him.'' This is establish- 
 ing a very different criterion of regeneration, than 
 the simple fact of having been baptized. And 
 does not the apostle intend it to hold negatively, 
 as well as positively — that whoever doeth not 
 righteousness is oiot " born of God ?" If so, this 
 is another passage which will assuredly answer 
 Mr. M.'s challenge, by proving from holy writ, 
 that even many ' persons, to whom baptism has 
 ' been rightly administered, are not regenerate.' f 
 < — This is confirmed by the next passage. 
 
 ♦ P. 35. t Tracts, p. 40. 
 
72 
 
 1 John iii. 9, 10 : '" Whosoever is born op God 
 '^ doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaiueth in 
 " him : and he cannot sin^ because he is born of 
 '^ God. In this the children of God are manifest 
 ^' and the children of the devil : whosoever doeth 
 " not righteousness is not of God, neither he that 
 '' loveth not his brother." ^' Not of God :" 
 that is, evidently, from the connexion, is not '' a 
 *' child of God"— is not ''born of God.'* 
 
 I must except this passage from the number of 
 those, w^hich Mr. M. but slightly notices. He 
 employs no less than three pages upon the former 
 of the two verses.* As, however, his effort is to 
 obviate any conclusion, which might be drawn 
 from it to the prejudice of his sentiments, not to 
 convert the passage into a confirmation of those 
 Sentiments, it is properly reserved for this place. 
 
 Mr. M.'s labours upon the passage evince no- 
 thing, in my judgment, but the impossibility of 
 reconciling it with the notions, that all baptized 
 persons are born of G od, and ' that no other than 
 ^ baptismal regeneration is possible in this world.* 
 
 He first mistates the argument drawn from the 
 passage. It is hence contended, he says, ' that 
 ^ as baptismal regeneration does not secure a 
 
 * P. 44—47. 
 
73 
 
 ^ man from sin, another greater and better new 
 ' birth must be added to supply the deficiency.' 
 And he then cursorily alludes to the doctrine of 
 ' sinless perfection.' Now, I apprehend, that 
 not even those, who hold sinless perfection to be 
 attainable in this life, (of whom I certainly am 
 not one,) do understand the apostle here to 
 speak of such perfection, and to declare that no 
 one is born of God, who is not thus ^ secured 
 * from sin.' But I conceive that every one, who 
 will allow the apostle to speak for himself, must 
 admit, that he does affirm, the " being born of 
 *' God" effectually to secure a man from living in 
 sin as others do — from practising sin — from " not 
 ^' doing," ov practising, "righteousness," * And 
 this is all that our argument requires. If no man 
 who is " born of God" can live in wickedness, 
 then many who have been baptized are not even 
 yet " born of God." 
 
 * It is true, that, in the latter clause of ver. 9, the simple verb 
 u/xafTaveiv is used : but in the fonner part the expression is d/xafrtav 
 ev la-oiei doth not do, or practise, sin : and in ver. 10. this is illustrated 
 by the contrast of •zetokdv ^tuoioa-wnv, doing or practising righteousness. 
 So that the " sinning " or " committing sin " is sufficiently proved to 
 refer to a man's habitual practice — ' the trade of his life,' as one of 
 the homilies terms it. — ^The expression ■zr-oisiv AfAapnav occurs also 
 in John viii. 34 : but still in the same sense of habitually practising 
 Sm. Tlag tueiuv afxctpnav, JouXej E^i fng afAafrtai;. 
 
 ' Those words in St. John, that a man horn of God doth not and 
 ' cannot sin, must be understood in a larger sense, of their not living 
 * in the practice of known sin ; of their not allowing themselves ia 
 ' that course of life, nor going on deliberately ia it.' Bp. Burnet, 
 «& Art. xvi. 
 
74 
 
 In the next place, in treatiiif^ of this text, 
 Mr. M. has recourse to a most sophistical argu- 
 ment, to evade i<s force. ' In the passage before 
 
 * us,' lie says, ' the apostle allirms, that w/ioso- 
 
 * eve?' is born of God cannot ain ; and a few 
 
 * verses before he allirms. Beloved, noxv are zve 
 ^ i he sons of God ; so that connecting the two 
 ' assertions together, he will be made to ailirm, 
 ' that all the persons, to whom his epistle was 
 
 * addressed were incapable of sinning ; a hazard- 
 
 * ous atlirniation this, if it be considered, that 
 
 * the e[)istlc was certainly addressed to large so- 
 
 * cieties of Christians;' &c. Nothing, I con- 
 ceive, can be more unfair than the whole of this 
 passage. By the terms * incapable of sinning,' 
 Mr. M. takes advantage of the idea of the apos- 
 tle's meaning * sinless perfection,' though he has 
 just discarded that interpretation of the words. 
 He assumes that what is said in such general ex- 
 pressions as, " Beloved, now are we the sons of 
 *' God," is to be applied to every individual of 
 the society to which the epistle may be ad- 
 dressed : than which, as I hope to shew, no more 
 fallacious principle can be assumed in the in- 
 terpretation of scripture. And then, as the 
 basis of his argument, he puts this general lan- 
 guage, in which people are spoken of according 
 to their own professions, and the writer's cha- 
 ritable hopes concerning them, on a footing with 
 the strict and universal aftirmatives and neca- 
 
75 
 
 lives * of ilie passage under considcrailon. By 
 such reasoning', what is there which we might 
 not prove ? Will Mr. M. undertake to aihrm, 
 that such passages as iii. 20, "Ye have an unc- 
 " tion from the Holy One, and ye know all 
 " things," were true of every individual of the 
 
 * large societies of Christians — dispersed through- 
 ' out the greater and lesser Asia,' to whom he 
 supposes the cpislle to have heen addressed ? 
 Will he inulcrlake to sa^jtliat every one of them 
 having (according to him) " that hope" of 
 which the Apostle wrote in iii. 1 — 3, " purified 
 " himself even as God is pure ?" Upon these 
 principles, from v. yo, " We are in liim that is 
 " true," compared wilh iii. 6, " Whosoever 
 " ahideth in him sinneth not," we might prove 
 that all these persons lived without sin — the very 
 conclusion which he so justly pronounces ahsurd. 
 
 Mr. M. next says, " The truth appears to he, 
 
 * that St. John intended to give a description of 
 
 * those persons, who having been regularly 
 
 * adopted for the sons of God by the appointed 
 
 * Ver. 0. " WnosoKvr.n is Ixira of (Uni dolh luil commit (prac- 
 " tisc) bill." Vcr. 10. " Wuosoeveii iloclli not (pnictisetli imt) 
 "righteousness is not ot" Cod." — Mr. M., ia (|ii(iliii^-, passes from 
 tile opeiiiiij; words of v. 9, " \Vlioso(;ver is honi of (iod," to tlie 
 coucludint; ones, " cannot sin." It would have been more lair, per- 
 haps, to take those which stand immediately connected witli tlie for- 
 mer — " doth not commit (practise) sin," as ihev suggest tliut inter- 
 pretation of the others, in wliich \vc all agree. 
 
76 
 
 * means, continued to act in a manner worthy 
 ' of their adoption, by striving to profit by the 
 ' grace of God, which would then effectually pre- 
 
 * serve them from the grosser sins.' — St. John de- 
 clares that he speaks of all, " whosoever are 
 « born of God :" Mr. M. says, that he ' intended' 
 to describe ' those, who, having been regularly 
 
 * adopted for the sons of God,. . continued to act 
 
 * in a manner worthy of their adoption.' Whose 
 word is to be taken, the reader will decide. But, 
 supposing Mr. M.'s interpretation to be admit- 
 ted, how nugatory does it make the apostle's 
 solemn declaration ! Let us put it in IMr. M.'s 
 way. '' Whosoever is born of God," and ' con- 
 
 * tinues to act in a manner worthy of his adop- 
 ^ tion,' — "doth not commit (or practise) sin." 
 What is ' acting in a manner worthy of our 
 ' adoption,' but abstaining from sin ? Does not 
 this interpretation, therefore, make the apostle's 
 words to amount to this, ' Whosoever is born 
 
 * of God, and continues to abstain from sin, 
 'doth not practise sin?' — 'Under the' same 
 ' limitation,' Mr. M. afterwards adds, ' we 
 ' may admit the position of an acute writer, * 
 ' that the viezvs, dispositions, and conduct of 
 
 * real Christians invariably characterize the 
 
 * regenerate children of God in scripture : ' 
 —•and ' that other position ' also, ' that there 
 
 * is an infallible connection between regcnera" 
 
 * Mr. Overton, 
 
77 
 
 ^tion and salvation: — positions, which are 
 
 * true, precisely to the same extent as the asser- 
 *tion of the apostle, that ^^ baptism we are dead 
 
 * unto sin, and are freed from sin.' I know not 
 where the apostle asserts, that ' by baptism we 
 ' are dead unto sin, and freed from sin/ I sup- 
 pose the allusion is to Rom. vi : but I find no 
 such assertion there. The church, as it has al- 
 ready been remarked, says, ' So should we who 
 ' are baptized die from sin, and rise again unto 
 
 * righteousness.' That all they who are bap- 
 tized are by profession dead to sin may be true, 
 but that they are so in fact— nothing, I fear, is 
 less true. 
 
 After what has been observed on the preceding 
 passages, we may be very brief on those which 
 remain. 
 
 1 John iv. 7, 8 : " Beloved, let us love one 
 '^ another ; for love is of God : and every one 
 *' that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. 
 " He that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for 
 " God is love." — The apostle writes much in 
 this epistle of that love, which true Christians 
 bear to one another, for Christ's sake. And 
 of that he must doubtless be understood to speak 
 in this place. He calls it " the love of the bre- 
 " thren :" aad elsewhere mentions the possession 
 
 3 
 
78 
 
 of it as a decisive evidence of '' having passed 
 " from DEATH unto life." * 
 
 1 John, V. 1 : " Whosoever believeth that 
 '^ Jesus is the Christy is born of God : and every 
 " one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also 
 " that is begotten of him." From the other 
 passages adduced, it must be evident that the 
 faith here intended is the ' true, lively, and 
 ' Christian faith,' which " worketh by love," and 
 produceth obedience. However, whether more 
 or less be understood by this '' believing that 
 " Jesus is the Christ," here is no allusion made 
 to baptism. 
 
 Ibid. 4, 5 : " Whatsoever is born of God over- 
 ^' Cometh the world : and this is the victory which 
 '' overcometh the world, even our faith. Who 
 *' is he that overcometh the world, but he thatbe- 
 '^ iieveth that Jesus is the Son of God." All other 
 men are held in bondage by the w orld, — by the 
 love of it, or the fear of it : but he that is " born 
 " of God" has received ' a new principle of life 
 ' andof action,' which enables him "to overcome 
 '^ the world." Is this true of ail baptized per* 
 sons.? If not they are not all " born of God." 
 
 Ibid. 18 : " We know that whosoever is born 
 
 * Jolm. iii. 14. 
 
79 
 
 *^ OF God sinneth not;, but he that is begottei? 
 *' OF God keepeth himself, and that wicked one 
 " toucheth him not." * The apostle is speaking 
 ' concerning a sin unto death ; and his words 
 ' clearly mean^, that no one, who has been born 
 
 * of God, or begotten of God^ committeth this sin 
 ' unto death. I might here, with a force of ar- 
 ' gument not easily answered, maintain the final 
 ' perseverance of all who are born of God : for 
 ' apostates are especially the persons marked out 
 
 'as guilty of this sin But, waving this 
 
 ' subject, I would only ask. Is there any kind or 
 ' degree of sin^ from which all baptized persons 
 
 * are secured ? any, from which they all, uni- 
 ' formly and without exception, keep themselves ? 
 ' If this be answered in the negative, as I think 
 
 * it must ; then, beyond all doubt, being born of 
 
 * God is something' by no means inseparably con- 
 ' nected with baptism/ * 
 
 ' We may here observe how prominent the 
 *^idea of all true Christians being born of God 
 
 * was in this apostle's mind ; and that they alone 
 
 * were born of God.' ' He never adduces 'any 
 ' thing peculiar to Christianity, but it is asso- 
 ' ciated with being born of God.' ' Yet he does 
 ' not expressly mention baptism, except as record- 
 ' ing facts in all his writings.' f 
 
 * Scott's Remarks, &;c. vol, i, p. 202, 303. f Ihid, p. 193. 
 
 2 
 
91 
 
 te 
 
 80 
 
 ' Every passage, in the New Testament, ha» 
 ' now been considered, in which the term rege- 
 ' neration is used, or words of similar import : 
 ' and in two only, is there even any direct allu- 
 ' sion to baptism.* " The will of God" is 
 assigned as the source ; f " the word of God" as 
 the ordinary instrument ; \ and " being led by 
 the Spirit," the " love" of God and man, 
 overcoming the world," and righteousness of 
 life, as the necessary evidences § of regeneration : 
 but how little do we read concerning baptism in 
 this connexion ! 
 
 And as being " born of God " is continually 
 spoken of without any reference to baptism, so, 
 on the other hand, it has been remarked, that, 
 
 * in no one instance, in which the baptizing 
 
 * of any persons is recorded in the New Testa- 
 ' ment, is the least intimation given, that they 
 ' were then regenerated. The two subjects 
 ' are kept entirely separate,' with the excep- 
 tion of the allusions to the outward sign just 
 specified. ll 
 
 * Ibid. p. 204. The two passages intended are John iii. aiMl Tit. 
 ii. In Rom. vi. and Col. ii. no such term occurs. If a third passage 
 is to be added, it must be Gal. iii. 26, 27, above quoted. 
 
 t John i. 11, 12. James i. 18. 1 Pet, i. 3. 
 
 X James 1. 18. 1 Pet. i. 23 
 
 § Rom. viii, 14. 1 John ii. 29. iii. 9, 10. ir. 7, 8. v. 18. 
 
 II Scott's Remarks, vol.i. p. 210. 
 
81 
 
 Indeed it seems impossible to turn from sucli 
 works as Mr. M/s to the New Testament^, with- 
 out feeling strongly the transition we have made. 
 In the former, I had nearly said, baptism occu- 
 pies the whole field of view. It is placed in the 
 greatest possible prominence : almost every thing 
 is ascribed to it : all blessings are connected with 
 it. '^ Supernatural grace is thereby conferred:' 
 ' Christ/ it is declared, ' ordained it with the 
 ^ promise of salvation annexed to its legitimate 
 
 * administration :' ' it conveys regeneration :' ' it 
 ' is the vehicle of salvation :' it '^ entitles us to 
 ' eternal life:' we ^ are born anew in baptism, and 
 ' in baptism exclusively :' ^ it infuses a new prin- 
 ' ciple of life and of action :' "^ we are by baptism 
 ' made heirs of salvation :' ' sanctification and 
 ' purity, unspotted and unblemished holiness, are 
 ' attributed to the church of Christ as the effect' 
 of it. In short, it would seem that we are thereby 
 regenerated, adopted, justified, sanctified, if not 
 also glorified for to that the passage last alluded 
 to refers.* But turn now to the New Testa- 
 ment. There we find, indeed, baptism ' expressly 
 ' ordained by Christ himself,' with the declara- 
 
 * So also the Bishop of Lincohi : ' Those who are baptized are 
 
 * immediately translated from the cm'se of Adam to the grace of 
 
 * Christ ; the original guilt which they brought into the world is mys- 
 
 * tically washed away; and they receive forgiveness of the actual sins 
 ' which they may themselves have conmnitted ; they become recon- 
 ' ciled to God, partakers of the Holy Ghost, and heirs of eternal 
 
 * happiness,' &c. Refutation of Calv. p. 83. 
 
82 
 
 tion, " He that believetk and is baptized shall be 
 *' saved." It is the appointed mode of professing 
 faith in him : it is ' a sign, a pledge, a means' of 
 important blessings. As such it is required to 
 be observed, and it is supposed that Christians 
 have not failed to observe it. But when the 
 terms of salvation are to be propounded, how 
 seldom, comparatively, do we hear of it ! '' To 
 " as many as received him to them gave he power 
 " to become the sons of God, even to them that 
 *' believe on his name:" *^ That whosoever be- 
 " lieveth on him should not perish, but have 
 " everlasting life : " " He that heareth my word, 
 '' and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever- 
 " lasting life, and shall not come into condem- 
 " nation, but is passed from death unto life :'* 
 " He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and 
 " he that believeth on me shall never thirst :" 
 " What shall I do to be saved ? Believe on the 
 '^ Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved :" 
 *' Through his name, whosoever believeth in him 
 " shall receive remission of sins :" '' By him all 
 "that believe are justified from all things:'* 
 " That repentance and remission of sins should 
 " be preached in his name, among all nations, 
 "beginning at Jerusalem:" "Testifying both 
 " to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance 
 " towards God, ^indi faith towards our Lord Jesus 
 " Christ :" " Repent and be converted that your 
 " sins may be blotted out." 
 
83 
 
 For what purpose do I make these quotations ? 
 To shew that baptism is unimportant, because it 
 is not mentioned in them ? If such were my 
 purpose, I might justly be charged with the same 
 negative mode of reasoning, which, in the last 
 chapter, I condemned in Mr. M. But such is 
 by no means the use which I make of these pas- 
 sages. I adduce them only to shew, in what 
 terms the inspired writers oj^dinarily proclaimed 
 the salvation of the gospel to mankind. I do not 
 infer that they omitted baptism, or neglected to 
 insist upon baptism, because it is not here men- 
 tioned : yet I cannot but ask. Had baptism occu- 
 pied as large a space in their view as in Mr. M. s, 
 had they attributed as extraordinary an ejfiicacy 
 to it, would it not have been much more pro- 
 minent than it is in their addresses ? 
 
 In one place, indeed, St. Paul even speaks of 
 '' baptizing" as a very secondary and inferior 
 employment, compared with " preaching the 
 '' gospel." " I thank God that I baptized none 
 " of you, but Crispus and Gains ; lest any should 
 '' say that I had baptized in mine own name....... 
 
 " For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach 
 '' the gospel."* — I cannot persuade myself, that 
 such language comports with the idea of bap- 
 
 * 1 Cor. i. U— 17. 
 
 c 2 
 
84 
 
 tism being so completely ' the vehicle of regenc 
 * ration and salvation/ as Mr. M. esteems it. 
 
 Before we quit the ground of scripture^ there 
 is another argument which may well deserve con 
 sideration. The Jews, it is allowed, were as 
 much the covenant people of God, during the 
 continuance of the Mosaic dispensation, as Chris- 
 tians are now. They had their initiatory ordi- 
 nance as well as we. It denoted, that, according 
 to our Lord's expression, " that which is born of 
 " the flesh is flesh ;" and that this corrupt nature 
 needs to be mortified and put away. It repre- 
 sented '' the circumcision of the heart to love 
 *' God." * It was " the seal of the righteousness 
 "^ of faith." f Was it not to them ' the sacra- 
 ' ment of regeneration,' as much as baptism is to 
 us ? I It was appointed by the same authority ; 
 it stood in the same place ; it signified the same 
 thing ; it sealed the same blessings. It was evi- 
 dently ' a sign,' and ' a pledge' of ' a spiritual 
 " grace ;' and to those who ' received it rightly' 
 it would be, at least, ' by virtue of the prayers '§ 
 which would accompany it, 'a means' of grace. 
 Its sacramental character, I apprehend, will not 
 
 * Deut. XXX. 6. t Rom. Iv. 11. 
 
 X See Col. ii. 11 : where some commentators understand the apostle 
 to call baptism " the circumcision of Christ." 
 § Art. xxvii. 
 
85 
 
 be questioned. Mr. M. says, by baptism ' man 
 ' kind at large were to be admitted into covenant 
 ' with Godj as the Jews had been by the right of 
 'circumcision.'* And subsequently he adopts 
 the words of a venerable prelate, who says, 
 ' Our REGENERATION is wholly the act of the 
 * Spirit of Christ. But there must be some- 
 ' thing done on our parts in order to it ; and 
 ' something that is instituted and ordained by 
 ' Christ himself, which in the Old Testament was 
 ' circumcision, in the New, baptism.' f This is 
 admitting, I think, what I contend for, that to 
 the Jews circumcision was the ' sacrament of re- 
 ' generation ; ' | and that circumcised Jews stood 
 on the same footing by their circumcision, as we 
 do by baptism. If, therefore, baptism, by *^its sacra- 
 ' mental character,' necessarily or uniformly con- 
 vey the ' spiritual grace' of regeneration to us, 
 circumcision must, for the same reason, and in 
 the same manner, have conveyed it to them. 
 
 It becomes, then, an inquiry bearing directly 
 upon the question before us. In what light do the 
 inspired prophets and apostles view their circum- 
 cised hearers ? How do they address them with 
 respect to ' the inward and spiritual grace' of 
 
 * P. 6, 7. t P. 26. 
 
 X When I wrote the above, I did not recollect the decision of our 
 church upon the subject : * And so mas circumcision a sacramentf 
 ^ which,' &c. Horn, of Com. Prayer and Sacraments. 
 
86 
 
 circumcision ? Do they consider them as hay- 
 ing, of course, received it, and as incapable of 
 any other reception of it in this life ? 
 
 As I have proved, both from the nature of the 
 case, and from Mr. M.'s own authorities, that 
 ' regeneration ' was ' the inward and spiritual 
 * grace' of circumcision, no less than of baptism, 
 I might at once adduce the passage which has 
 already so much engaged our attention, — our 
 Saviour's discourse with Nicodemus. It was ad- 
 dressed to a man who had done that which was 
 ' to be done on his part,' * under the Old Testa- 
 ' ment,' ' in order to regeneration; '* who had 
 received the only sacrament of regeneration then 
 in existence : f yet it was mainly employed in 
 inculcating upon characters, circumstanced as he 
 was, the necessity of their being born again. 
 ^' Marvel not that I say unto you, ye must be 
 '' born again." Either, therefore, our Lord was 
 enjoining on them a second regeneration, or he 
 assumed, that many of them, notwithstanding 
 their circumcision, were still unregenerate. 
 
 But not to urge this further, let us attend to 
 some other specimens of scriptural addresses to 
 circumcised persons. 
 
 * Quotation above made from Tracts, p. 2tJ. 
 t Tracts, p. 7, 8. 
 
87 
 
 Lev. xxvi. 41^ 42: " If then their uncircum- 
 " cised hearts be humbled, and thej then accept 
 " of the punishment of their iniquity; then will 
 *' I remember my covenant," &c. 
 
 Deut. X. 16 : " Circumcise, therefore, the fore- 
 " skin of your heart, and be no more stifF- 
 " necked." 
 
 Ibid. XXX. 6 : " The Lord thy God will cir- 
 " cumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, 
 " to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, 
 " and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." 
 
 Jer. iv. 4 : " Circumcise yourselves to the 
 '* Lord, and take away the foreskins of your 
 *' heart, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of 
 *' Jerusalem : lest my fury come forth like fire, 
 '' and burn that none can quench it, because of 
 " the evil of your doings." 
 
 cc 
 
 Ibid. ix. 25, 26 : " Behold the days come, saith 
 the Lord, that I will punish all them which are 
 *•' circumcised with the uncircumcised ; Egypt, 
 " and Judah, and Edom, and the children of 
 '^ Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the ut- 
 " most corners, that dwell in the wilderness : for 
 " all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the 
 " house of Israel due uncircumcised in the heart." 
 
88 
 
 Acts vii. 51:" Ye stiff-necked, and uncircum- 
 '* cised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the 
 " Holy Ghost : as your fathers did, so do ye." 
 
 This collection of scriptural passages might 
 easily be enlarged to almost any extent, by the 
 induction of others which speak the same senti- 
 ments, only without the use of exactly the same 
 figure. Such, for example, are those which en- 
 join, " Make you a new heart, and a new spirit ; 
 " for why will ye die, O house of Israel :" or 
 which promise, " I will put a new spirit within 
 ^' you ; and I will take the stony heart out of 
 *' their flesh, and will give them a heart of 
 *' flesh." * That all this relates to * the inward 
 ' and spiritual grace/ of which they had already 
 received ' the outward and visible sign/ is proved 
 by those passages which represent the change of 
 the heart " to love God," as the thing denoted 
 by circumcision : and that it is the same as rege- 
 neration, Mr. M. virtually admits, when he de- 
 scribes regeneration as ' a new principle put into 
 ' us,' even ' the Spirit of grace.' This surely 
 cannot differ much from " a new heart and a new 
 " spirit put within us." 
 
 All these passages sufficiently shew, with 
 what good reason our Lord intimated, that ** a 
 
 * Ejek.xviii. 31. xi. 19. 
 
89 
 
 " teacher of Israel" ought to have learned the 
 doctrine of regeneration, even from the Old 
 Testament. 
 
 I add only a passage from St. Paul, whicb 
 strongly countenances the doctrine contended 
 for, and distinctly explains the principle upon 
 w^hich all the texts just adduced proceed. 
 
 Rom. ii. 25 — SQ : " For circumcision verily 
 " profiteth, if thou keep the law : but if thou be 
 *' a breaker of the law^, thy circumcision is made 
 ^* uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumci- 
 " sion keep the righteousness of the law, shall not 
 *' his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision. 
 " And shall not uncircumcision which is by na- 
 " turcj if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the 
 " letter and circumcision dost transgress the law ? 
 " For he is not a Jexv which is one outxvardly ; 
 *' neither is that circumcision, which is outward 
 " in thejiesh : but he is a Jew which is one in- 
 " WARDLY ; and circumcision is that of the 
 " HEART, in the spirit, and not in the letter, 
 
 whose praise is not of men but of God." 
 
 ee 
 
 This passage most decisively proves, "^ that the 
 ''circumcision of the heart" was the thing of 
 essential consequence ; and that it might be, and 
 alas ! too commonly was, separated ffom outward 
 
90 
 
 circumcision. Now, if all, which this passage 
 lays down, held good under the comparatively 
 external dispensation of Judaism, how much 
 more must it be true under the more spiritual 
 dispensation of the gospel ! God forbfd that we 
 should imagine ourselves, or teach others to ima- 
 gine themselves, in any essential and highly im- 
 portant sense of the word. Christians, while we 
 are such only " outwardly ! " God forbid that 
 we should satisfy ourselves, or teach others to 
 satisfy, and thus to deceive, themselves with a 
 baptism which is only ^' outward in the flesh ;" 
 or with any thing which necessarily accompanies 
 outward baptism, and is common to ' baptized 
 
 * infidels ' with baptized believers ! and that we 
 should rest in any thing short of the baptism 
 " of the heart, in the spirit, and not (merely) in 
 " the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of 
 « God !" 
 
 Now, on all these scriptures last adduced, let 
 me be permitted to ask. Is it not perfectly conceiv- 
 able, that there might have arisen persons in the 
 Jewish church, strongly impressed with the pri-^ 
 vileges which pertained to them as members of 
 that church ; entertaining high notions of the 
 nature of a sacrament, and of ' the spiritual 
 
 * grace which it conveyed' wherever it was 
 '■ rightly administered ;' and to whom, conse- 
 
91 
 
 quently, all these passages of the prophets and 
 apostles would sound very offensive ? to whom 
 they would be as obnoxious, as the inculcating 
 the necessity of the new birth upon Christians 
 can be to Mr. M., or to any other person who en- 
 tertains his sentiments ? And may it not easily be 
 imagined, that such characters would be able to 
 plead very plausibly against the notions of a de- 
 spised ' party,' which insisted upon somewhat 
 more distinguishing and more spiritual ; — which 
 maintained, in short, such doctrines as those of 
 Rom. ii. 25 — 29, just quoted? They might 
 have urged ' the sacramental character,' and the 
 high things said in scripture of circumcision ; 
 and have pressed the charge of reducing it to a 
 
 * mere beggarly element, a form without sub- 
 
 * stance, a body without spirit, a sign without sig- 
 
 * nification :' and no doubt strong prejudices would 
 have existed in their favour, in the breasts of those 
 whom they encouraged to be ' filled with all joy 
 
 * and peace in believing that they partook' of spi- 
 tual circumcision, — that blessing having been 
 ' conferred by the sacrament of circumcision^ 
 which they had all received. But how our Lord, 
 how his forerunner, and how his apostles would 
 treat such vain confidences we are not left to con- 
 jecture : for what I have here only proposed as an 
 hypothesis, did actually take place, and those who 
 held the doctrine of St. Paul, as just cited, were 
 
92 
 
 charged with *oacating Jewish privileges and the 
 henejits of circumcision, as much as any of us can 
 be with disparaging those, which are connected 
 with baptism and admission into the Christian 
 church. This appears from the very next words 
 of the epistle : (iii. J, 2, &c.) " What advantage, 
 *' then, hath the Jew ? and what profit is there 
 '' of circumcision ?" The apostle answers, but in 
 terms which would give as little satisfaction to 
 his opponents, as ours can do to those who con- 
 demn us, *' Much every way : chiefly because that 
 " unto them were committed the oracles of God." 
 
93 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A Conseque7ice of the Doctrine^ that Baptism is 
 Regeneration, or the only Medium of Regene- 
 ration, 
 
 JUAVING thus considered the testimony of 
 holy scripture upon the subject of regeneration, 
 and its connexion with baptism, we might at 
 once proceed to examine the doctrine of the 
 church upon the same subject : but a consequence, 
 immediately resulting from Mr. M.'s sentiments, 
 presents itself, which may challenge some pre- 
 vious notice ; and which is of so awful import, as 
 must necessarily induce us very strictly to scruti- 
 nize the grounds of his opinions, before we adopt 
 them. , 
 
 In the discourse with Nicodemus, we have 
 heard our blessed Lord repeatedly and most 
 solemnly declare, that, " except a man be born 
 " again — born of water and of the Spirit — he 
 " cannot see, or enter into the kingdom of God." 
 In these words, by Mr. M.'s own interpretation,* 
 this ' new birth or regeneration is pronounced 
 
 * P. 29, 35. 
 
94 
 
 ' by our Saviour to be necessary to salvation,' 
 Yet he maintains, that it can be conveyed only 
 by baptism : ' that no other than baptismal rege- 
 ' neration is possible in this world.' * What, 
 then, is the unavoidable consequence ? Clearly, 
 that baptism is absolutely ' necessary to salva- 
 ' tion/ and that we ' cannot become heirs of sal- 
 
 * vation' without it. 
 
 In many places, indeed, Mr. M. would seem 
 almost to recognise this consequence. * Bj 
 *" being born again,' he says, ' of which our Sa- 
 
 * viour speaks in such lofty language, something 
 ' is designed absolutely necessary to be attained 
 ^ by those, who would enter into the kingdom of 
 
 * God.' f Yet he maintains that it is baptismal 
 regeneration which is designed, and nothing 
 else. 'In what other ceremony,' he asks, ' and 
 ' at what other season,* than at baptism, ' shall 
 ' we find that joint operation of water and of the 
 ' Holy Spirit, of which Christ affirms we must 
 ' be born.';}; — Again : ' For the purpose of rege- 
 
 * neration we conceive this union of water, as the 
 ' instrument, and of the Spirit, as the efficient 
 ' principle, to be absolutely necessary." § 
 
 But though he thus seems, at times, almost 
 explicitly to admit this consequence, of the ab- 
 
 * P. 32. t P. 24. X P. 25. § P. 37-. 
 
 2 
 
95 
 
 solute necessity of baptism to salvation, I do not 
 charge him with holding it. Once indeed he 
 qualifies his language upon the subject. His 
 words are : ' We are justified^ in contending, 
 ^ that for the express purpose of regeneration, 
 
 * not only is his (the Spirit's) operation necessary, 
 
 * but that it must also (humanly speaking) be 
 
 * administered through the mediation of water.'* 
 But it is manifest, that, if our Lord in the passage 
 referred to spoke of baptism, every such qualifi- 
 cation is unauthorized and unwarrantable. He 
 says no such thing, as that ' humanly speaking' 
 a man must be " born of water and of the 
 *' Spirit," in order to salvation ; but, absolutely and 
 unconditionally, that, except he be so, he " cannot 
 *^ enter into the kingdom of God." His language 
 perfectly suits the ideas which we entertain upon 
 the subject. We hold the change of regeneration 
 to be indispensable to salvation, in every child of 
 fallen Adam. How Mr. M. will make it accord 
 with his sentiments, it is for him to consider. 
 
 I have said, however, that I do not charge him 
 with holding the consequence, which, I have 
 shewn, must follow from the supposition, that, in 
 John iii, our Lord is speaking of baptismal rege- 
 neration, and of that only. But I do adduce the 
 whole of what has been quoted in this chapter, a» 
 
 * P. S8. 
 
96 
 
 displaying a somewhat rash and ill-considered 
 way of writing, by which Mr. M.'s Tracts appear 
 to me eminently unsuitable to answer their design, 
 of ' conveying correct notions' * on the subjecti 
 of which they treat. 
 
 I subjoin an extract from a work before referred 
 to, which presses our present argument in a very 
 forcible manner. 
 
 ' Our Lord says to Nicodemus, Verily, ^verily, 
 
 * I say unto thee, Except a man he born again, 
 
 * he cannot see the kingdom of God, Eixept a 
 
 * man be born, &c. &c. Whence I infer, with- 
 
 * out fear of refutation, that whatever is meant by 
 ' being horn again, no man can possibly, without 
 
 * being born again, either be a true Christian on 
 ' earth, or inherit the kingdom of God in heaven : 
 
 * and consequently he must live and die in his 
 ' sins, and finally perish. Now is his Lordship 
 
 * prepared to admit, in its full extent, this conse- 
 ' quence concerning baptism ? Will he exclude 
 ' from the possibility of salvation the whole body 
 
 * of the QuakerSj and all those children of Anti- 
 ' paedobaptists, who die without receiving adult 
 ' baptism ; and all those, who are Antip^do- 
 ' baptists in principle, yet never receive either 
 ' infant or adult baptism ? Do all these perish 
 
 * Title-page. 
 
97 
 
 ^ without hope ? Will he maintain^ that no 
 ' misapprehension, and no outward situation, in 
 ' which baptism could not be procured, will 
 ' make any exception ? Are all the children of 
 
 * Christians who die unbaptized, excluded from 
 ' the kingdom of God ? — not to speak of the 
 ' children of Jews, and heathens, and Moham- 
 ' medans, who die before the commission of 
 
 * actual sin, but die unbaptized. — I am far from 
 ' believing that his Lordship, and others, who 
 ' hold that baptism is regeneration, are prepared 
 
 * to admit these consequences ; which would be 
 ' more repugnant to all our ideas of the divine 
 
 * mercy, than any thing, that either the most 
 ' zealous opposers of Calvinism, have charged 
 
 * upon the system j or the most rigid and wild 
 
 * enthusiast, who disgraced the nameof Calvinist, 
 
 * ever advanced on the subject.'* 
 
 * Remarks on the Bishop of Lincoln's Refutation of Calvinism, 
 vol. i. p. i73, 174. 
 
 U 
 
98 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Doctrine of the Church — Remarkable Dif- 
 ference between the Language of the Church 
 and that of Mr. Mant — Analogy of the other 
 Sacrament — Church Articles and Catechism 
 — Mr. Manfs Doctrine a Revival of the 
 opus operatum. 
 
 3- HE needless embarrassment in which the sub- 
 ject is left, by the want of a more distinct defi- 
 nition of what is meant by regeneration; whe- 
 ther a change of dispositions, or only a change 
 of state and relations ; * has been already com- 
 plained of. In what follows^ however, I shall 
 be content to take Mr. M.'s account of its na- 
 ture, that it is ^ a supernatural grace conferred/ 
 
 * a new principle put into us,' ' the sanctifica- 
 ' tion of the Spirit,' which makes us ' heirs of 
 
 * salvation,' and ' entitles us to eternal life.' 
 And, I trust, it will be at all times kept in mind, 
 that the great question between us is. Is this 
 supernaturnal grace necessarily, or is it even 
 constantly conferred, where baptism is rightly 
 administered ? 
 
 * Bp. Hopkins, above, c. i. 
 
99 
 
 Having discussed the argument from scrip- 
 ture^ I proceed to inquire, Whether our church 
 teaches us to answer this question in the affirm- 
 ative. 
 
 In conducting his investigation of this point, 
 or rather his proof that the church takes the 
 affirmative side, Mr. M. commences with the 
 addresses and prayers in the baptismal services. 
 Without particularly objecting to his method, 
 I shall prefec beginning with the Articles. It 
 seems natural to expect, from these professed and 
 studied expositions, the most exact information 
 concerning the doctrines of the church : and 
 by them also it would appear reasonable to in- 
 terpret any thing, which might be thought 
 doubtful, in her more popular compositions. 
 
 And here we have, happily, no less than six 
 excellent articles upon the subject of the sacra- 
 ments, five of which bear more or less upon the 
 question. Strange however as it may appear, 
 Mr. M., professing to omit no one passage ^ in 
 * the liturgy and articles,' * which relates to the 
 subject, has not so much as mentioned more 
 than one of these articles ; while he has endea- 
 voured to press into his service three others, 
 , * P. 20. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 which appear to irie nearly foreign to the pur- 
 pose. 
 
 ' In three of the articles/ he says^ the doc- 
 trine in question ' is incidentally alluded to in 
 ' such a manner, as to shew that the church 
 ' takes for granted the connexion between bap- 
 ' tism and the new birth. In the 9th it is laid 
 ' down, that the original infection of nature doth 
 ' remain, yea in them that are regenerated ; and 
 ^ by the context it appears, that by the regene- 
 ' rated are intended they that believe and are 
 ' baptized.'* 
 
 The article referred to is that ' of original or 
 
 * birth-sin/ The connexion of those parts on 
 which the observation is made, may be seen from, 
 the following extract : * And this infection of 
 ' nature doth remain, yea in them that are re- 
 ' generated. . . . And although there is no con- 
 ' demnation for them that believe and are bap- 
 ' tized, yet the apostle doth confess, that con- 
 " cupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature 
 
 * of sin/ That they who * believe and are bap- 
 ' tized ' are regenerated, I have no sort of doubt 
 But how it appears from this context, that *^ by 
 
 * the regenerated are intended they that believe 
 
 » P. 18. 
 
101 
 
 ' and are baptized/ is not very clear. And, if 
 it were, I do not perceive how it would make 
 for Mr. M.'s purpose ; unless, because ^tliey that 
 'believe and are baptized 'are regenerate, itfoUows, 
 that all who are baptized are regenerate, whether 
 they believe or not I — This is the third instance in 
 which Mr. M. drops all notice of " faith," in 
 passages where it is expressly mentioned, and 
 where it fills a prominent situation. And faith 
 must here mean, not a mere general assent to 
 Christianity, but * the true, lively, and Christian 
 
 * faith : ' * for it cannot be asserted, that ' there 
 
 * is no condemnation ' for those who believe 
 with any other than a living and fruitful faith, 
 even though they be ' baptized.' 
 
 ' In the 15th ' article, Mr. M. proceeds, 
 ' Christians universally are designated by the ap- 
 ' pellation of those, who are baptized and born 
 ' again in Christ* f 
 
 In this short remark there is, I apprehend, a 
 double error. The article is, ' Of Christ alone 
 ' without sin.' The part referred to is, ' But all 
 •^ we the rest, although baptized, and born again 
 ' in Christ, yet offend in many things.' — * All 
 ' we the rest ' surely means, not only ' Christians 
 ' universally,' but all mankind except Christ. 
 
 * Homilies. f ?• 18. 
 
102 
 
 Consequently the following clauses do not affirm, 
 that all these persons are both ' baptized, and 
 ^ born again in Christ/ but that exien those of 
 them who are so, do yet in many things offend. 
 The connexion is exactly like that in the ninth 
 article ; ' the infection doth remain, yea in them 
 ' that are regeiierated :' 'etiam in rcnatis,' The 
 Latin copy (which is original authority as well 
 as the English,*) makes this more clear; ' Sed 
 ' nos reliqui, etiam baptizati, et in Christo re^ 
 
 * generatii iii 7nultis tamen offendimus omnes' 
 
 * The 16th Article/ Mr. M. adds, ' speaks of 
 ' the condition of those, who fall into sin after 
 'baptism; that is, according to an equivalent 
 
 * expression^ after they have received the Holy 
 ' Ghost.' "f — Not to spend more time upon such 
 passages, 1 content myself with begging that 
 the reader will turn to the article, and judge 
 for himself what proof it affords, that the ex- 
 pressions above quoted are used as equivalent. 
 I find none. At all events, arguing from such 
 short and uncertain hints, when ample, distinct, 
 and decisive matter is before us, appears to be 
 labour misapplied. Proceed we, therefore, to 
 the articles which treat expressly of the sacra* 
 ments. 
 
 » Burnet. t P- 18- 
 
103 
 
 Mr. M. quotes only the twenty-seventh. I 
 must request the reader's attention to the twenty- 
 fifthjtwenty-sixthjtwenty-seventhjtwenty-eighth, 
 and twenty-ninth. 
 
 On comparing all these articles with Mr, M.'s 
 tracts, we are at once struck with a very ma- 
 terial difference in the language employed. The 
 great thing upon which the Articles dwell with 
 respect to the sacraments, in order to their salu- 
 tary eft'ectj is the ' right receiving ' of them : 
 the only thing on which Mr, M. insists is, bap- 
 tism being ' rightly administered.' By this he 
 evidently means, administered in due form, and 
 by an authorized person : and accordingly he, 
 in one instance, substitutes for the ' right admi- 
 ' nistration/ the •' legitimate administration :' — 
 *^ ordained,' he says, ' as it was by Christ himself, 
 ' with a promise of salvation annexed to its le- 
 ^ gitimate administration.'^ Of this right or 
 legitimate administration he speaks repeatedly, 
 while he never mentions the right reception, I 
 believe, but once ; and that merely as the phrase 
 happens to occur in a quotation from the arti- 
 cles, f Surely a difference of language, so es- 
 sential and so uniformly preserved, affords no 
 
 * p. 51. t P. 19. 
 
104 
 
 slight presumption of a material diflference in 
 sentiment. 
 
 But not only does Mr. M. assert, that ' a pro- 
 
 * mise of salvation is annexed to the legitimate 
 ' administration ' of baptism, and that all are 
 ' regenerated ' to whom it is ' rightly adminis- 
 
 * tered :' not only does he justly observe, that the 
 catechumen ' is instructed, that baptism is a sa- 
 
 * crament ; and as such, of course consisting of 
 ' an outw ard and visible sign, and of an inward 
 ' and spiritual grace :' * but he evidently and, I 
 might even say, avowedly takes it for granted, 
 that the two cannot be separated ; that where the 
 former is * rightly administered,' the latter must 
 accompany it. To suppose the inward grace se- 
 parated from the outward sign is, he says, ' to 
 ' reduce ' this sacrament ' to a mere beggarly 
 ' element, a form without substance, a body 
 ' without spirit, a sign without signification/ 
 The supposition that such a separation may be 
 made, he calls a ' doubting of the inward and 
 ' spiritual grace of baptism,' the expression of 
 which doubt excites in him ' pain and surprise/ 
 He demands to have ' the exception ' to regene- 
 ration's ' taking place at baptism ' pointed out. 
 He repeatedly argues, that if, where rightly ad- 
 
 » P. 15. 
 
105 
 
 ministered, baptism do not ' convey effectual re- 
 ^ generation/ it is ' 7io sacrament^ and that ' to 
 * deny its regenerating influence is to deny its 
 
 ' sacramental character' * 
 
 Now if all this hold of baptism, by its very 
 nature as a sacrament, it must, of course, equally 
 hold good of the other sacrament of the Lord's 
 supper. Let us then hear the articles of the 
 church upon the subject. 
 
 And first concerning the Lord's supper. 
 
 Art. xxix. Of the wicked which eat not the 
 body of Christ i?i the use of the Lord's supper, 
 — ' The wicked, and such as be void of a lively 
 ' faith, although they do carnally and visibly 
 ' press with their teeth (as St. Augustine saith) 
 ' the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, 
 ' yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ : 
 ' but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and 
 ' drink the sign or sacrament of so great a thing.' 
 — Is this supposing that the inward and spiritual 
 grace must constantly accompany the outward 
 and visible sign in a sacrament ? 
 
 Secondly, of the sacraments conjointly. 
 
 * P. 10, 11, 15, 16, 21, 28, 29, 36, 40, 51. 
 
106 
 
 Art. XXV. Of the sacraments. — ' In such onlj 
 
 * as WORTHILY RECEIVE the Same they have a 
 
 * wholesome effect or operation : but they that 
 ' RECEIVE them unworthily purchase to them- 
 ^ selves damnation, as St. Paul saith.' 
 
 Thirdly, of baptism in particular. 
 
 Art. xxvii. Of baptism. — ' Baptism .... is a 
 •^ sign of regeneration or new birth^ whereby, 
 ' as by an instrument, they that receive bap- 
 ' tism RIGHTLY are grafted into the Church/ 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Nor does the church leave us uninformed 
 what she understands by a right receiving of 
 the sacraments. 
 
 Art. xxvi. Of the miworthiness of the ministers, 
 which hinders not the effect of the sacrament. — 
 ' Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken 
 Taway by their wickedness^ nor the grace of 
 
 * God's gifts diminished from such as by faith 
 
 * and rightly do receive the sacraments/ &c. &c. 
 
 Art. xxviii. Of the Lord's supper. — ' To such 
 
 . *as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive 
 
 ' the same, the bread Vv'hich we break is a par- 
 
 * taking of the body of Christ/ &c. 
 
107 
 
 iEvery one must remember similar sentiments 
 and language in the communion service. ' As 
 ' the benefit is great, if with a true penitent heart 
 ' and lively faith we receive that holy sacrament ; 
 ' (for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, 
 ^ are one with him, &c. ; ) so is the danger great 
 ' if we receive the same unworthily/ 
 
 And so also the catechism teaches us^ that by 
 ' the faithful' alone are * the body and blood of 
 ' Christ/ or the spiritual blessings procured and 
 represented by them, ' verily and indeed taken and 
 ' received in the Lord's supper :' and that ' re- 
 ^ pentance and faith' are required in those who 
 come either to that sacrament, or to the sacra- 
 ment of baptism. — With what shadow of reason, 
 then, can Mr. M. pretend that the catechism 
 countenances, and much more that it 'unequi- 
 ' vocally asserts/ his doctrine ? The catechism as 
 much asserts an inward and spiritual grace of the 
 Lord's supper, as it does of baptism : it would be 
 extraordinary if it did not. It declares the same 
 qualifications (at least, in subjects capable of 
 them) to be requisite for one sacrament as the 
 other ; and, with respect to the former, it evi- 
 dently adopts that limitation of the spiritual 
 grace, which the articles so explicitly lay down, 
 It is confined to ' the faithful :' * for ' the mean, 
 
 * Catechism. 
 
108 
 
 ' whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten 
 * in the supper is faith.' * Strange then^ indeed, 
 would it be to infer, that, according to the cate- 
 chism, the inward grace of baptism must needs 
 accompany the outward sign, merely because an 
 inward grace of that sacrament is asserted ! Yet 
 Mr. M. has little other ground than this for 
 claiming the authority of the catechism in favour 
 of his sentiments, f 
 
 Let it be remembered that the point now in 
 discussion is, whether ' the spiritual grace' in all 
 cases accompanies ' the outward sign' in a sacra- 
 ment. Whether to deny this is ^ to deny the 
 ' nature of a sacrament.' If that be true of one 
 sacrament, it must be of both : and the passages 
 which I have adduced are express and decisive of 
 the judgment of the church on the question, 
 with respect to both sacraments. There is no 
 possibility of evading it. — Here then, I do not 
 scruple to say, that Mr. M,, at the very moment 
 when he is taking upon him to judge and con- 
 demn his brethren, is himself in the same condem- 
 nation which he pronounces upon them — is ' in 
 
 ' IRRECONCILEABLE OPPOSITION tO the UNEQUI- 
 
 * Article xxviii. 
 
 f Whatever additional ground he may think that he has from the 
 words, ' we are thereby made the children of grace/ will be consi- 
 dered in c. viii. 
 
109 
 
 ' VOCAL and numerous declarations ' of the 
 church of England^ on this most * important 
 
 * article.' * 
 
 In a subsequent part of his tracts^ Mr. M. 
 himself appeals to the other sacrament^ and ar- 
 gues from it in a manner which^ after what we 
 have seen, may be thought not a little extraor- 
 dinary. ' If the spiritual part of baptism be 
 ' denied, why should the spiritual part of the 
 
 * communion be allowed ? If water be not really 
 
 * the layer of regeneration, why should bread and 
 
 * wine be spiritually the body and blood of Christy 
 ^ and convey strength and refreshment to the 
 ' soul ? ' Do they do so^ except to the penitent 
 and believing soul ? The articles have already 
 answered the question. And who denies that 
 baptism conveys spiritual grace, with a similar 
 restriction ? — Mr. M. proceeds, ' Surely it is not 
 
 * too much to affirm, that the stripping of one of 
 ' God's ordinances of that, which constitutes its 
 ' essential value, has a natural tendency to "bring 
 
 * the efficacy of the others into question, and to 
 
 * diminish at least, if not to annihilate, a man's 
 
 * respect for them as means of spiritual grace.' f 
 — We strip baptism of *^that which constitutes 
 
 * its essential value, ' no more, nor any otherwise, 
 than Mr. M. so strips the Lord's supper, every 
 
 * Tracts, p. 23. t P. 51. 
 
no 
 
 time he recites the exhortation iu the communion 
 service. 
 
 But, in fact, this question of the necessary, or 
 unfailing efficacy of the sacraments is no new 
 one: and Mr. M.'s doctrine upon it seems little 
 else than a rcYival of the popish doctrine of the 
 opus operatum, or that the benefit of the sacra- 
 ments is conveyed by the mere reception of them, 
 independently of the state of mind of the person 
 receiving them. And of this doctrine let us hear 
 the opinion of our church, and of the reformers 
 generally, as summed up by Bishop Burnet. 
 
 * This,' he says, ' we reckon a doctrine that is not 
 ' only without all foundation in scripture, but 
 ^ that tends to destroy all religion, and to make 
 
 * men live on securely in sin, trusting to this, that 
 
 * the sacraments may be given them when they 
 
 * die. The conditions of the new covenant are 
 ^ repentance, faith, and obedience ; and we look 
 ' on this as the corrupting the vitals of this reli- 
 
 * gion', when any such means are proposed, by 
 
 * which the main design of the gospel is quite 
 ' overthrown. . .We look on all sacramental ac- 
 ' tions as acceptable to God only with regard to 
 ^ the temper, and the imvard acts of the person to 
 ' whom they are applied ; and cannot consider 
 
 * them as medicines or charms, which work by 
 
 * virtue of their own_, whether the person to whom 
 
Ill 
 
 ^ they are applied co-operates with them or not.' 
 ' Thus we reject, not without great zeal against 
 
 * the fatal effects of this error, all that is said of 
 
 * the opus operatum, the very doing of the sacra- 
 
 * ment : we think it looks liker the incantations 
 
 * of heathenism, than the purity and simplicity of 
 
 * the Christian religion.' * 
 
 Again, in the following passages, his language 
 applies, if possible, still more directly and unequi- 
 vocally to the case before us. ' The second part 
 of this period' (Art. xxt. ) ' is, that the effect of 
 
 * the sacraments comes only upon the worthy re- 
 
 * ceiving of them. , .The pretending that sacra- 
 
 * ments have their effect any other way is the 
 
 * bringing in the doctrine and practice of charma 
 
 * into the Christian religion : and it tends to dis- 
 ' solve all obligations to piety and devotion, to a 
 
 * holiness of life, or a purity of temper :' f &c. 
 
 ' These august words, that were dictated bj 
 ' our Lord himself to be used in baptism, ^shew 
 
 * us that there is somewhat in it that is internal, 
 
 * which comes from God ; that it is an admitting 
 ' men into somewhat that depends only on God, 
 
 * Burnet on Art. xxv. p. 330, 331, 332, 8vo. — I do not adopt every 
 mode of expression which occurs in these extracts : but the general 
 argument is excellent. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 366. 
 
112 
 
 ' and for the giving of which the authority can 
 ' only be derived from him. But after all, this 
 ' is not to be believed to be of the nature of a 
 ' charm, as if the "very act of baptism carried 
 ' always with it an inward regeneration. Here, 
 ' we must confess, that very early some doctrines 
 ' arose upon baptism, that we cannot be deter- 
 ' mined by. The words of our Saviour to Nico- 
 ' demus were expounded so, as to import the ab- 
 
 * solute necessity of baptism in order to salvation/ 
 — ' Another opinion, that arose out of the for- 
 ^ mer, was the mi.ving of Jthe outward and the in- 
 ' ward effects of baptism . . .' St. Peter has stated 
 the subject '^ so fully, that if his words are well con- 
 ' sidered, they will clear the whole matter. He, 
 ' after he had set forth the miserable state in which 
 ' mankind was, under the figure of the deluge, 
 ' in which an ark was prepared for Noah and his 
 
 * family, says upon that. The like figure where- 
 
 * untOi even baptism, doth also now save us. Upon 
 ' which he makes a short digression to explain 
 ^ the nature of baptism, not the putting away the 
 '•filth of the fleshy but the answer (or the demand 
 ^ and interrogation) of a good cojiscience towards 
 ' God; by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, whq 
 ' is gone into heaven. The meaning of all which 
 
 * is, that Christ having risen again, and having 
 ' then had all power in heaven and in earth 
 ^ given to him, he had put that virtue in bap- 
 
 6 
 
113 
 
 ' iism, that by it we are saved, as in an ark, from 
 " that miserable state in which the world lies, and 
 ' in which it must perish. But then he explains 
 
 * the way how it saves us; that it is not as a 
 ' physical action, as it washes away the Jilthiness 
 ' of the Jiesh or of the body, like the notion that 
 ^ the gentiles might have of their februations ; 
 ' or, which is more natural, considering to whom 
 
 * he writes, like the opinions that the Jews had 
 ' of their cleansings after their legal impurities, 
 '^ from which their washings and bathings did 
 ' absolutely free them. The salvation that we 
 
 * Christians have by baptism is effected by that 
 ' federation into which we enter, when, upon 
 ' the demands that are made of our renouncing 
 ' the devil, the world, and the Hesh, and of our 
 ^ believing in Christ, and our repentance to- 
 ' wards God, we make such ansxvers from a good 
 
 * conscience^ as agree with the end and design 
 ' of baptism ; then by our thus coming into co- 
 ' venant with God, we are saved in baptism. So 
 ' that the salvation by baptism is given by rea- 
 ' son of the federal compact that is made in it. 
 '' Now this being made outwardly, according to 
 ' the rules that are prescribed, that must make 
 ' the baptism good among men, as to all the out- 
 ' ward and visible effects of it : but since it is 
 
 / the ansxver of a good conscience only that save*:, 
 •^ then an answer from a bad conscience, from a 
 
114 
 
 ^ hypocritical person^ who does not inwardly 
 ' thinkj or purpose^, according to what he pro- 
 ^ fesses outwardly, cannot save, but does, on the 
 ' contrary, aggravate his dajnnation. Therefore 
 ' our article puts the efficacy of baptism, in or- 
 *^ der to the forgiveness of our sins, and to our 
 ' adoption and salvation, upon the virtue of 
 'prayer to God; that is, upon those vows and 
 ' other acts of devotion that accompany it : so 
 ' that tvhen the seriousness of the mind accom- 
 ' panics the regularity of the action, then both 
 ' the outward and inward effects of baptism are 
 ' attained by it : and we are not only baptized 
 ' into one body, but are also saved by baptism. 
 ' — So that upon the whole matter, baptism is a 
 ' federal admission into Christianity, in which, 
 ' on God's part, all the blessings of the gospel 
 ' are made over to the baptized : and on the 
 
 * other hand, the person baptized takes on him, 
 ' by a solemn profession and vow, to observe and 
 
 * adhere to the whole Christian religion. So it 
 
 * is a very natural distinction to say, that the out- 
 ' ward effects of baptism follow it as outwardly 
 
 * performed : but that the inward effects of it 
 ^follow upon the inward acts. But this difference 
 ' is still to be observed between inward acts and 
 
 * outward actions, that when the outward action is 
 ^ rightly performed, the church must reckon the 
 ' baptism good, and never renew it : but if one 
 
115 
 
 ^ has been wanting in the inward acts, those may 
 ' be afterwards renewed, and that want may be 
 ^ made up by repentance.' * 
 
 Such are the doctrines of an exposition of 
 the articles, written by a right reverend prelate, 
 and recommended, I believe, for more than a 
 hundred years past, by all our bishops, to the 
 study of every candidate for orders. Yet a so- 
 ciety, which boasts the patronage of the whole 
 bench of bishops, now circulates Mr. Mant's 
 tracts, in order ' to convey correct notions ' f 
 upon the same subject ! 
 
 But it may be said, that all which has been ad- 
 duced relates to the reception of the sacraments 
 by adults, or persons capable of repentance, faith, 
 and other qualifications of mind : whereas Mr. 
 M. confines, or nearly confines^ his attention to 
 the baptism of infants. This, however, is not 
 strictly true. That the church had not forgotten 
 the case of infants, when she thus delivered the 
 doctrine of the sacraments, is made evident by 
 the conclusion of the twenty-seventh article : 
 ' The baptism of young children is in any wise 
 ' to be retained in the church, as most agreeable 
 ' with the institution of Christ. ' But, even if 
 it had not been so, still my quotations deraon- 
 
 * Burnet on Art. xxvii. p. 378 — 380. f Title-page. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 strate, that, in the opinion of the church, there 
 exists no necessary or constant connexion between 
 the outward sign and the inward grace of a sa- 
 crament ; that the former may be ' rightly ad- 
 ' ministered, ' and the latter not communicated ; 
 nay, that this is always the case where the sacra- 
 ment, whether of baptism or of the Lord's supper, 
 is not '^ rightly received.' And the occurrence, or 
 even the possibility, of such a fact, in any one 
 instance, overthrows Mr. M.'s hypothesis, that 
 the inv/ard and spiritual grace of baptism must 
 uniformly accompany the due administration of 
 the outward and visible sign. 
 
 But that Mr. M. should have so much con- 
 fined his attention to the case of infant recipients 
 of baptism, I take to be a material fault of his 
 work. Had he allowed himself duly to consider 
 the case of adults receiving a sacrament, and what 
 the church has laid down, concerning the quali- 
 fications requisite for receiving it with spiritual 
 benefit, I think it impossible that he should have 
 continued in some of, what I must call, his pre- 
 sent errors. Perfectly agreeing with what I have 
 just quoted from our twenty seventh article, that 
 * the baptism of young children is in any wise to 
 ' be retained in the church, as most agreeable 
 ' with the institution of Christ ;' I still must 
 think, that with the case of infants, and in traiis- 
 
 2 
 
117 
 
 f erring, to subjects ' incapable of repentance and 
 'faith,' language which was originally applied 
 only to persons supposed to possess both, much of 
 the confusion which has prevailed, was introduced 
 into the subject. 
 
 Let me then again put to Mr. M. the case of 
 an adult;, having baptism ' rightly administered' 
 to him, but yet, contrary to all his professions, 
 destitute of "repentance towards God, and faith 
 '^ towards our Lord Jesus Christ :" does such a 
 person, in receiving baptism, receive the inward 
 and spiritual grace, or does he not ? If he does, 
 what becomes of all the doctrine of our articles 
 concerning the sacraments bringing condemna- 
 tion, instead of ' a wholesome effect and opera- 
 ' tion," to them who receive them not ' rightly, 
 ' worthily, and with faith ?' If he does not, what 
 shall we say to Mr. M.'s principle of ' the sacra- 
 * mental character' being ^ denied,' by supposing 
 the outward sign rightly administered, and the 
 inward grace not communicated ? 
 
 It may be said again, ' The case of an infant, 
 incapable of personal repentance and faith,* is 
 not to be put upon a footing with that of an adult, 
 positively impenitent and unbeliemng, and there- 
 fore a hypocrite in his baptismal professions/ 
 
 * Catechism. 
 
118 
 
 True, it is not : but neither is it to be considered 
 as necessarily on an equality with the case of a 
 real penitent, and true believer in Christ, pro- 
 fessing his faith in baptism. Such an one un- 
 questionably enjoys the inward and spiritual 
 grace, as well as the outward and visible sign. 
 But on what ground (after Mr. M/s principle 
 respecting ' the sacramental character' has been 
 discarded,) it is concluded, that these two dis- 
 tinct things must necessarily , or in all cases go 
 together, where infants are concerned, I am at a 
 loss to conceive. 
 
 The language of our church upon this subject 
 will verv soon be considered. In the mean time 
 I ask, does it seem reasonable to suppose, that a 
 blessing 7iecessarily or always accompanies the 
 administration of a sacrament, to those who ^ by 
 ' reason of their tender age cannot * exercise re- 
 pentance and faith, which hy no means necessarily 
 or always accompanies it, to grown persons who 
 are capable of both those graces ? 
 
119 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Church Ser*oices. — Office for Baptism of Adults. 
 — Principle on which the Church proceeds, in 
 speaking of all whom she has adtnitted to Bap- 
 tism as regenerate. 
 
 An the preceding chapter, I trust I have demon- 
 strated;, that the articles of the church afford no 
 countenance to Mr. M/s doctrine concerning 
 baptism ; and at the same time succeeded in re- 
 moving one main support of his system, namely 
 the assumption, that to suppose the inw^ard grace 
 of baptism in any case withheld, w here the out- 
 ward sign is ' rightly administered,' is " to deny 
 ^ its sacramental character ;' ' to reduce it to a 
 ' mere beggarly element, a form without sub- 
 ' stance, a body without spirit, a sign without 
 ^ signification.* Like every other religious rite, 
 baptism may be made nearly all this :* but then 
 who ' make' it such ? Not |hey who caution 
 men against resting in the outward form, with- 
 
 * Not indeed ' a sign without signification ;' the expression is in- 
 correct : — but a sign separated from the thing signified. 
 
120 
 
 out enjoying the spiritual blessing, but they who 
 ' receive it unworthily/ 
 
 But still it may be asked. Supposing Mr. M. 
 to ha\e been incautious or erroneous in this prin- 
 ciple, yet is he not borne out by our public ser- 
 vices, in asserting that baptism ' conveys regene- 
 * ratibn* to every one to whom it is rightly ad- 
 ministered ? 
 
 This question I proceed to consider; only pre- 
 mising, that it would seem very unlikely, that a 
 church, which, in her doctrinal articles, so care- 
 fully lays it down, that ' in such only as wor- 
 ' thiiy receive the same, the sacraments have a 
 ' wholesome effect or operation ;' should, in her 
 liturgy have assumed, that the outward rite and 
 the spiritual grace inseparably accompany each 
 other. Mr. M., however, is so sure that the ser- 
 vices of the church are on his side, that he says 
 they ' need no comment :' ' language cannot be 
 ' plainer.' One thing, however, I hope he may 
 by this time feel, that, according to his "view 
 of those services, they certainly do want a com- 
 ment to reconcile them with the articles. And 
 this is some presumption, that the view which he 
 has taken of them is not quite correct. 
 
 I shall begin with ' the ministration of bap- 
 
121 
 
 ' tism to such as are of riper years, and able to 
 ' answer for themselves ;'* in order that we may 
 consider the subject disencumbered of any parti- 
 cular questions, which the case of infants might 
 introduce into it. That case shall afterwards re- 
 ceive separate consideration. 
 
 Before we proceed to the baptism of such per- 
 sons, the rubric admonishes us, that * due care is 
 ^ to be taken for their examination, whether they 
 ' be sufficiently instructed in the principles of the 
 ' Christian religion ; and that they may be ex- 
 ' horted to prepare themselves with prayers and 
 ■^ fasting for the receiving of this holy sacrament.' 
 — This is by no means immaterial to our in- 
 quiry. 
 
 The persons being ' found fit/ and the time 
 for the administration being come, the service 
 opens with an address, which differs only by the 
 addition of the words in brackets from that, 
 which Mr. M. has quoted from the ministration 
 of public baptism to infants : — ^ Dearly beloved, 
 
 * forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in 
 ' sin, [an4 that which is born of the fle?h is 
 
 * flesh, and they that are in the fiesh cannot 
 
 * I am^ware that this office is of later date than the rest. But I 
 suppose no one will pretend that it has not equal authority. Besides, 
 the same system evidently pervades all the offices, and all must be 
 interpreted in the same manner. 
 
122 
 
 ' please God, but live in sin, committing manj 
 ' actual transgressions ;] and that our Saviour 
 
 * Christ saith. None can enter into the kingdom 
 ^ of God, except he be regenerate and born anew 
 ' of water and of the Holy Ghost ; I beseech you 
 ' to call upon God the Father, through our Lord 
 ^ Jesus Christ, that of his bounteous goodness he 
 
 * will grant to these persons that which by nature 
 ' they cannot have ; that they may be baptized 
 ' with water and the Holy Ghost, and received 
 ^ into Christ's holy church, and be made lively 
 ' members of the same.' 
 
 It would seem not unnatural to ask. Are we 
 not furnished, by the words in brackets, with a 
 criterion by which to judge whether a man is 
 
 * in the flesh,' (that is, I suppose it will be al- 
 lowed, ' unregenerate,' *) or the contrary ? They 
 who ' live in sin,'f are, it would seem, by the 
 testimony of our church, as well as by the deci- 
 sion of St. John, ' in the flesh,' and therefore not 
 ' born of God.' J But I forbear to press this. 
 
 Mr. M.'s remarks upon this address are as fol- 
 low : — It ' is designed to draw the attention of 
 ' the hearers to the purpose, for which baptism 
 
 * is administered. It consists of two parts ; an 
 
 * See John iii. 6. f SeeRom. vi. 2, 
 
 X 1 John iii. 9. See above, p. 72. 
 
125 
 
 ^ admonition to the people to pray, and a reason 
 * for the admonition : what they are to pray for 
 ' partly is, that the child [or the persons] may 
 ' be baptized xvitli water and the Holy Ghost ; 
 ' the reason for their being called on so to pray, 
 ' is, forasmuch as Christ saith, None can enter 
 ' into the kingdom of God e.vcept he be regenerate 
 ' and born anew of water and of the Holy Ghost. 
 ' Putting these passages together, what else is the 
 ' prayer that the child [person] may be baptized 
 ' with water and the Holy Ghost, than a prayer 
 ' that by baptism he may be born anew,' * 
 
 If the words by baptism here mean through the 
 medium of baptism, I have no wish to dispute 
 this inference, taken with a limitation, which it 
 may hereafter be seen that it requires. I readily 
 admit that the church considers baptism as being, 
 by the very nature of a sacrament, ' a means and 
 ' pledge,' as well as ' a sign/ of ' a death unto 
 ' sin and new birth unto righteousness.' But 
 does no further inference suggest itself to Mr. 
 M.'s mind from this address ? In the exhorta- 
 tion to pray, that the persons about to receive 
 baptism ' may be baptized with water and the 
 ' Holy Ghost,* does he not again read the doc- 
 trine of the articles, that the outward rite may 
 be duly administered, and the inward grace not 
 
 * P. 11, 12. 
 
124 
 
 be received ? The object of the petition cannot 
 be the baptism with water : that the priest has 
 power to administer, and is about to administer : 
 it must be, that baptism with the Holy Ghost 
 may accompany it. It is possible^ therefore, that 
 it should not accompany it : at least it may be so, 
 if these prayers are not made devoutly and in faith. 
 
 The prayers, which immediately follow, form 
 the best comment on the address, and the best 
 confirmation of the argument which I have 
 drawn from it. In them the spiritual grace is 
 the sole object of petition. We beseech God ' to 
 ' wash and sanctify these his servants with the 
 ' Holy Ghost, that they, being delivered from 
 
 * his wrath, may be received into the ark of 
 ' Christ's church :' &c. &c. And again, ' We 
 
 * call upon him for these persons, that they com- 
 
 * ing to his holy baptism, may receive remission 
 ' of their sins by spiritual regeneration.' This 
 passage, Mr. M. says, ' needs no comment : it 
 " will only be recollected that the question is, 
 
 * What does the Church of England understand 
 ' by our Saviour's expression of being born of 
 ' water and of the Spirit.' This is, by no means, 
 the only question between us. However, I per- 
 ceive in this passage no further answer to that 
 question, than that the church understands our 
 Saviour to speak of a spiritual change, of which 
 
123 
 
 baptism is a * sign,' and may be ' a means : * but 
 which may fail of accompanying baptism ; else 
 why so earnestly pray, that these persons, ' com- 
 ' ing to baptism/ may have it ? 
 
 Similar remarks may be made upon other 
 prayers, which Mr. M. cites, though he pronounces 
 any further comment upon them to be unneces- 
 sary. For example : ' Give thy Holy Spirit to 
 * these persons, that they may be horn again, and 
 ' be made heirs of everlasting salvation.' Does 
 not this imply, that they might be baptized, and 
 yet not be " born again." I profess, that to me 
 the prayers seem to suggest conclusions, directly 
 opposite to those which Mr. M. would make 
 from them. Hew^ould infer, that baptism either 
 * is/ or ' conveys' regeneration : these prayers 
 imply, (what the articles have expressly taught, ) 
 that it is very possible for regeneration not even 
 ' to accompany ' baptism ! 
 
 Again, I quote, because Mr. M. has quoted, 
 the following : * Sanctify this water to the mys- 
 ' tical washing away of sin ; and grant that 
 ' the persons now to be baptized therein may 
 ' receive the fulness of thy grace, and ever remain 
 ' in the number of thy faithful and elect chil- 
 ' dren.' Is it not implied here, that it is just as 
 possible for them to fail of receiving ' the ful- 
 * ness of God's grace' now, at their baptism^ as 
 
126 
 
 to fail of ' remaining ever in the number of his 
 ' faithful and elect children ' afterwards ? 
 
 But we have already passed the gospel ap- 
 pointed for the occasion. We return to it. In 
 Mr. M.'s words, ' the passage selected is the con- 
 ' versation;, wherein Christ asserts to Nicodemus 
 ' the necessity of the new birth : ' and, as he ob- 
 serves, it is made the foundation of an address 
 commencing as follows : ' Beloved^ ye hear in 
 ' this gospel the express words of our Saviour 
 
 * Christ, that except a man be born of water and 
 ' of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
 ' of God. Whereby we may perceive the great ne- 
 ^ cessity of this sacrament, where it may be had.' 
 
 On these words Mr. M. thus triumphantlj' re- 
 marks : ' It must be enough barely to quote this 
 ^ passage : it would be an insult upon any man's 
 ' understanding, to atteVnpt to make it clearer ; 
 ' and it would be superfluous to add more from 
 
 * the same office. If a bare statement of this fact 
 ' does not convince a man, nothing, I am per- 
 
 * suaded, can convince him, that it is by baptism, 
 ' in the judgment of the church of England, that 
 
 * a man is born of water and of the Spirit.' * 
 
 Here is great confidence, great exultation, but 
 
 * P. 14. 
 
127 
 
 I, for one, must acknowledge my obligation to 
 Mr. M. for the hint he has given at the close, 
 without which I might have been too dull to 
 perceive what was the occasion of his triumph. 
 
 I can readilj, indeed, perceive from this ad- 
 dress, that the church agrees with Mr. M. in un- 
 derstanding our Lord, when he speaks of being 
 " born of water," ' to allude by anticipation to 
 * the sacrament of baptism, which he intended to 
 ' ordain.' * And in this respect I agree with him 
 also. 
 
 I likewise readily admit, as I have before done, 
 that the church considers baptism as not only ' a 
 ^ sign/ but also ' a means ' of regeneration. 
 
 But neither is this a point in dispute : and, 
 with regard to points in which we really differ, 
 I infer from the passage one or two things a good 
 deal opposed to Mr. M.'s views. — Has Mr. M. con- 
 sidered, with the attention which it deserves^ that 
 clause, ' the great necessity of baptism where 
 ' IT MAY BE HAD ?' Would the church have 
 presumed to interpolate such a limitation as this, 
 in our Lord's unlimited asseveration, that " ex- 
 " cept a man be born again he cannot see the 
 " kingdom of God ?" Far from her friends be 
 
 * P. 8. , 
 
 1 
 
128 
 
 such an insinuation ! Had she, then, supposed 
 * no other than baptismal regeneration to be 
 ' possible in this world,* * would she have ven- 
 tured to say, ^ its great necessity where it may be 
 ' had; ' when by Mr. M.'s own confession, our 
 Lord has declared regeneration to be ' absolutely 
 ' necessary,' ' an indispensable requisite to salva- 
 ' tion,' J in all cases ? — From this clause, I con- 
 clude, without the fear of refutation, that it is 
 NOT by baptism only, ' in the judgment of the 
 ' church of England, that a man ' can be " born 
 " of water and of the Spirit/' in our Lord's 
 sense of the words. 
 
 Other passages have demonstrated, that, ac- 
 cording to her judgment, a man may receive 
 baptism ' rightly administered,' and yet not be 
 thus born again : and this passage proves to me, 
 that, in her judgment also, a man may be thus 
 born again otherzvise than by baptism, and in- 
 deed without baptism. 
 
 No one, I trust, would be further than myself 
 from depreciating ' the necessity of baptism 
 ' where it may be had,' or of any other thing 
 which Christ hath commanded : but yet I con- 
 ceive a church, which expresses herself in this 
 manner, would not go so near to pronouncing 
 
 * P. 32. t P- 24 and 25. 
 
129 
 
 baptism essential to salvation as Mr, M. has 
 done.* — And I contend that she had authority 
 for making this limitation, as to the sacramental 
 sign, though not as to the thing signified. The 
 nature of Christianity furnished this authority : 
 for it is a religion standing not in external rites, 
 (however important, or necessary, ' v»'here they 
 ' may be had,') but in the substantial blessings of 
 "^ righteousness^ peace, and joy in the Holy 
 " Ghost." The passage itself, as I have already 
 shevv^n,f furnished ground for it : for, though our 
 Lord, in one assertion of the nccessitv of the new 
 birth, just mentions the external sign of '^'^v^ater," 
 he drops it in every other instance, insisting only 
 upon being " born of the Spirit," as the great 
 essential thing intended. And, finally, autho- 
 rity for such a limitation is furnished by the very 
 words of the institution of this sacrament, which 
 have been before commented upon, and which the 
 church immediately proceeds to quote, as fol- 
 lows : ' He gave command to his disciples, say- 
 ^ ing, Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
 ' gospel to e*oery creature ; he that believeth and 
 ' is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth 
 ' not shall be damned.' By the omission of bap- 
 tism in the second clause, our Lord shews that he 
 did not intend to make it essential to salvation.;}; 
 
 * See p. 51 and 37 : and above c. iv. f Above, c. ii. 
 X Above, c. ii. 
 
130 
 
 ' To add more/ that is peculiar to this office, 
 Mr. M. says, ' would be superfluous.' I can bj 
 no means think so. To me it appears, that this 
 very exhortation contains much more, which re- 
 quires the particular attention of one who would 
 ascertain the real doctrine of the church. We 
 will recur to it, when we have considered some 
 other parts of the service. 
 
 After another prayer, which has already been 
 noticed, the persons to be baptized are addressed. 
 They are reminded of the prayers which have 
 been offered for them, and of the promises of 
 Christ to answer such prayers. They are then 
 admonished, that ' after this promise made by 
 ' Christ, they must also faithfully, for their parts, 
 
 * promise, in the presence of these their witnesses, 
 ' and the whole congregation, that they will re- 
 ' nounce the devil and all his works, and con- 
 
 * stantly believe God's holy word, and obedientl}'^ 
 
 * keep his commandments.' They then make 
 the baptismal vows : and, after some further 
 prayers, which have, as far as is necessary, been 
 considered, they are baptized ; ' received into the 
 
 * congregation of Christ's flock ; and signed with 
 ' the sign of the cross, in token that hereafter 
 
 * they shall not be ashamed to confess the faith 
 
 * of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under 
 
 * his banner, against sin, the world, and the 
 
 5 
 
131 
 
 ' devil ; and to continue Christ's faithful soldiers 
 
 * and servants unto their lives' end.' 
 
 All this shews what are the expectations of the 
 church, and what her suppositiotis respecting 
 them. 
 
 Then follow the terms, in which, if in any 
 thing, lies the strength of Mr. M.'s cause. ' See- 
 
 * ing now, dearly beloved brethren, that these 
 ' persons are regenerate,' or, as it is in another 
 office, ^ by baptism regenerate,' and grafted into 
 
 * the body of Christ's church, let us ^ysq thanks 
 ' unto almighty God for these benefits.' And 
 accordingly the congregation are led to ad- 
 dress themselves to almighty God, saying, * We 
 ' yield thee hearty thanks, O heavenly Father, 
 ' that thou hast vouchsafed to call u§ to the 
 ' knowledge of thy grace and faith in thee ; in- 
 ' crease this knowledge and confirm this faith in 
 
 * us evermore. Give thy Holy Spirit to these 
 
 * persons ; that, being now born again, and made 
 
 * heirs of everlasting salvation, through our Lord 
 
 * Jesus Christ, they may continue thy servants 
 ' and attain thy promises.* Or, as it is some- 
 what more strongly in the other offices, ' that it 
 
 * hath pleased thee to regenerate' them * with thy 
 
 * Holy Spirit, to receive them for thine own chil- 
 ' dren by adoption, and to incorporate them intQ 
 
 k3 
 
132 
 
 « thy holy church.* ' These words/ Mr. M. 
 says, ^ must be left to speak for themselves. They 
 ' admit of no illustration or explanation. Lan- 
 ^ guage cannot be plainer.' 
 
 Are we then to admit his conclusions from 
 them, that the church supposes baptism, rightly 
 administered, always to convey regeneration ? 
 True it is, and we have no hesitation in acknow- 
 ledging it, that she * speaks of every person, 
 ^ whom she has baptized, as regenerate.' * But 
 the question is, on what grounds she does this ? 
 Is it because she holds, with Mr. M,, that bap- 
 tism necessarily, or, at least, constantly ' conveys 
 ^ regeneration to those to whom it is rightly ad- 
 ^ ministered ?' After all that we have seen, I 
 Confidently answer, No. She has taught us 
 in her catechism, that ' repentance and faith' 
 are required in persons to be baptized. She has 
 constantly inculcated it upon us in her articles, 
 that ' in such only as worthily,' that is, as she pre- 
 sently after explains it, * by faith and rightly,' 
 
 * RECEIVE the same, the sacraments have a whole- 
 ^ some effect and operation :' and does she, at once, 
 render all null and void, by concluding that every 
 one, who receives ' the outward sign,' receives, 
 as a thing of course, as an inseparable adjunct, 
 
 * the inward and spiritual grace } ' Far from her 
 
 » Tracts, p. 21. 
 
133 
 
 be such self-contradiction and absurdity ! Irre- 
 sistible and overpowering indeed, and incapable 
 of receiving any other explication, must be the 
 evidence which should drive us to such a con- 
 clusion. 
 
 But now what is the case ? The whole ap 
 pears to me to admit of the easiest, the most na-^ 
 tural explanation — explanation which proceeds 
 upon the most common principles, and which, in 
 fact, the church has herself pointed out to us. 
 Let it be observed, that before she thus speaks of 
 her members as regenerate and born again, not 
 only has she repeatedly prayed for them, that 
 they might receive the Holy Spirit, and be born 
 again, as for a blessing which might be wanting, 
 even where baptism was ' rightly administered ;' 
 but she has commanded that they be ' examined' 
 and '^ found fit,' previously to their admission to 
 baptism ; she has admonished them of the neces- 
 sity of ' faithfully promising' things which no 
 man, who is not a partaker of ' repentance and 
 * faith,' does or can ' faithfully promise ;' and she 
 has received their solemn vows and professions 
 accordingly. Not till all this has taken place ; 
 not till this examination has been had, these 
 prayers offered, these professions and vows made, 
 as well as baptism administered ; does she speak 
 of the persons baptized, as * born again and made 
 
134 
 
 * heirs of everlasting salvation?' And now let 
 me ask. Who is there amongst us all, entertain- 
 ing even the strictest views of regeneration, as a 
 moral change, ' a change of heart,' turning man 
 from sin to holiness, and " from the power of 
 *' Satan unto God/' that would hesitate to pro- 
 nounce such persons ' regenerate,' " born again," 
 *^ passed from death unto life" — only supposing 
 one thing — 071I1/ assuming them to be devout in 
 the prayers in xvhich they had been joining, sin 
 cere in the voivs which they had been making ? 
 
 But suppose, on the other hand, all these awful 
 forms gone through; these prayers offered up; 
 these vows made ; all in due order, indeed, as far 
 as man could see, but without any devoutness, any 
 sincerity, any seriousness in the sight of God : 
 suppose all this done, for example, by an unbe- 
 lieving Jew, induced, (as we have reason to con- 
 clude many have been,) for the sake of worldly 
 advantage, publicly to profess the faith of Christ, 
 while privately he would blaspheme his name : 
 who could, who would say, that, in such a case 
 as this, any regeneration, any spiritual grace ac- 
 companied, what was, on the part of the receiver, 
 at least, a profane and impious mummery ? And 
 if no spiritual grace accompanied baptism in such 
 a case as this, by parity of reason, we should 
 have no right to conclude that any accompa- 
 
135 
 
 nied it, in other cases, where, though there might 
 be less impiety, there should prove to have been 
 no more sincerity or real devotion. 
 
 I contend, then, that the ground on which 
 the church speaks of all those, whom she has 
 baptized, as regenerate, is neither more nor less 
 
 than THE SUPPOSITION— THE ASSUMPTION, OF THEIR 
 SINCERITY IN THEIR PROFESSIONS. I COntcud, 
 
 that, with regard to adults, (and the case of in- 
 fants will be considered hereafter,) this is clear 
 from the whole of the service ; as well as necessary 
 to the consistency of the service with the articles. 
 
 I have said that the church has herself given 
 us the clue to this mode of understanding her 
 language. A passage in the catechism to that 
 effect will be considered on another occasion : at 
 present I confine myself to the office before us. 
 Let us turn back to the exhortation before no- 
 ticed. What do we there read ? ' Doubt ye 
 ' not, therefore, but earnestly believe^ that he 
 ' will favourably receive these present persons' — 
 doing v/hat ? — simply coming to baptism ? No, 
 let the words be marked- — ' truly repenting^ and 
 ' coming to him by faith.' Here the suppo- 
 sition, elsewhere implied and understood, is posi- 
 tively expressed: ' Truly repenting and coming 
 ' to him by faith' This is what is supposed con- 
 
136 
 
 cerning them. It is assumed, that they come to 
 baptism with the proper requisites tor ' receiv- 
 
 ' ING IT RIGHTLY,' with * REPENTANCE and FAITH.' 
 
 It would be a disbelief of God's promises to 
 doubtj whether, so coming, they should receive 
 the inward and spiritual grace or not : whether 
 or not they should by baptism, ' as by an instru- 
 ^ ment, be grafted into the church ; have the 
 ' promises of forgiveness of sin, and of their 
 ' adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy 
 ' Ghost, visibly signed and sealed to them ; their 
 ' faith confirmed and grace increased by virtue 
 ' of prayer unto God.* 
 
 Agreeably likewise to what has been now ar- 
 gued and adduced, the baptized persons are, at 
 the close of the service, addressed as ' being 
 ' made the children of God and of the light' — 
 how ? by baptism ? that indeed might be ' a sign,' 
 ' a pledge,' *^ a means: ' but the language here is, 
 ^ made the children of God and of the light by 
 ' FAITH in Jesus Christ.' This again assumes 
 their possession of faith, as well as points out the 
 real source of their privileges. 
 
 I might add that the passage of the exhorta- 
 tion, just cited, is introduced by a quotation 
 from St. Peter, which has been repeatedly no- 
 
 * Art. Kxvii. 
 
137 
 
 ticed, and in which the apostle is careful to in- 
 form us, that ''^the answer of a good conscience," 
 that is, the very thing here assumed, — sincerity 
 in the professions made, or a state of heart cor- 
 responding to them, — is the great thing requisite 
 to our enjoying the blessing sought and repre- 
 sented in baptism. 
 
 As far, then, as adults are concerned, I consi- 
 der the intention of our church service as clearly 
 and satisfactorily made out. No difficulty, it 
 seems to me, need be supposed to remain upon 
 the subject. 
 
138 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Case of Infants — Church Service for their 
 Baptism — A Passage in the Catechistn fur- 
 nishes the Key — Bishop Hopkins's Views of 
 baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 XjUT I am aware that the case of infants, and 
 the services appointed for their baptism, will 
 probabl}' be urged against the reasonings which 
 I have used in the last chapter. 
 
 Even supposing it proved, that the adult sub- 
 jects of baptism are pronounced regenerate, ^^^J 
 upon the assumed sincerity of their repentance 
 and faith, what, it may be said, are we to think 
 concerning infants, who are not capable of ex- 
 ercising repentance and faith ? Nay, seeing that 
 the church has used the same language respect- 
 ing them, as respecting adults, does not this de- 
 monstrate, that, however satisfactory the argu- 
 ments employed in favour of a hypothetical con- 
 struction of that language, even in the case of 
 adults, might appear, they are indeed fallacious. 
 
139 
 
 and the conclusions drawn from them un- 
 founded ? 
 
 I admit, in return, the plausibility of this rea- 
 soning, but I am prepared to maintain, that it 
 is unsound and delusive. 
 
 In the first place I observe, that the same 
 prayers, and very nearly the same exhortations, 
 are used in this case, as in that of adults. 
 
 And, in the next place, it is much to be 
 remarked, that, though the infant is incapable 
 of making any engagements whatever, the same 
 professions and vows are required as in the other 
 case. And of whom are they required ? Not of 
 others, as is often erroneously supposed : but of 
 HIM, through the medium of those who act for 
 him. ' After this promise made by Christ, this 
 ' INFANT must also faithfully, for his part, pro- 
 
 * mise BY YOU that are his sureties, (until he 
 ' come of age to take it upon himself, ) that he 
 ' will renounce the devil and all his works,' &c. 
 
 Accordingly the questions run, ' Dost thou, 
 ' IN THE NAME of this child, rcuounce, believe/^ 
 &c. Nay, * Wilt THOU be baptized ? Wilt thou 
 
 * obediently keep God's holy will and command- 
 
140 
 
 ' ments?' These questions are addressed as to the 
 child himself: the answers considered as his an- 
 swers. It is as if, by a sort of legal fiction, to 
 which we are no strangers in the most important 
 temporal transactions, the soul of the child were 
 considered as transferred to his sponsor, and as 
 speaking in him and by him. And, accordingly, 
 after the baptism the sponsors are addressed, 
 
 * Forasmuch as this child hath promised by 
 ' YOU his sureties, &c. ; ye must remember that 
 
 * it is your parts and duties to see, that he may 
 ' be taught, so soon as he shall be able to learn, 
 
 * what a solemn vow, promise, and profession, 
 ' HE hath here made by you/ 
 
 The engagements made are, to all intents 
 and purposes, considered as the engagements of 
 the children themselves. And hence, in the ca- 
 techism, it is observed, that these promises, 
 ' when they come to age, themselves are bound 
 ' to perform.' And for the explicit recognition 
 of this obligation the rite of confirmation is ap- 
 pointed, in which they are asked, ' Do ye here, 
 ' in the presence of God, and of this congre- 
 ' gation, renew the solemn promise and vow 
 ' that was made in your name at your baptism ; 
 ' ratifying and confirming the same in your own 
 
 * persons, and acknowledging yourselves bound 
 
141 
 
 ' to believe, and to do all those things, which 
 ' your godfathers and godmothers then under- 
 ' took for you ? ' * 
 
 Now all this is very remarkable. One is cer- 
 tainly somewhat at a loss for words, in which to 
 speak of engagements, supposed to be made by 
 an infant incapable of any knowledge of the 
 transaction. But when such promises and vows 
 are supposed to be made, something must in 
 like manner be supposed concerning what, in 
 another case, we should call the sincerity with 
 which they are made — concerning the per- 
 formance of them, or the disposition to perform 
 them : and, according to what is thus supposed, 
 must be the language subsequently used of the 
 party concerned in them. Here then, as before, 
 I contend, that the church, by an hypothesis 
 certainly not more bold, than that which ima- 
 gines the infant to make engagements at all, 
 supposes something which corresponds to sin- 
 cerity : — supposes that the child will perform — 
 
 * * In your name,' is the authorized and repeated explanation of 
 the words /or you. Let it not be pretended that I use an overstrained 
 interpretation of the words, in considering the questions as ad- 
 dressed to the infants, and the answers reputed as their's. If 
 the reader will turn to Hooker, B. v. § 64, he will find more than 
 nine pages employed in explaining and vindicating the practice, under 
 the following title : ' Interrogatories proposed unto infants in bap- 
 * tism, and answered as in their names by godfathers.' 
 
142 
 
 or (what is perfectly possible) that it even noW;, 
 through the ^race of God, possesses a disposition 
 which will lead it, as it becomes capable of so 
 doing, to perform its vows : and, on the ground 
 of this supposition, returns thanks to almighty 
 God, ' that it hath pleased him to regenerate 
 
 * this infant with his Holy Spirit, and to receive 
 ' him for his own child by adoption,' as well as 
 ^ to incorporate him into his holy church.' 
 
 And this interpretation of the language em- 
 ployed, I support, as before, by the explicit doc- 
 trine of the articles ; by the nature of the bap- 
 tismal service itself; and by what was urged 
 above, the utter unreasonableness of supposing, 
 that a blessing must necessarily attend the minis- 
 tration of baptism to an infant, which, it has 
 been proved, does by no means necessarily ac- 
 company it to a grown person. — And on what 
 ground is it argued, that the church holds rege- 
 neration always to accompany baptism in an in- 
 fant ? There is nothing stronger for it than the 
 language, ' We yield thee hearty thanks, that it 
 ' hath pleased thee to regenerate this infant.' 
 But the same language is used concerning adults, 
 in whom the church, avowedly, does not consider 
 baptism as having ' a wholesome effect and oper- 
 ' ation' necessarily, nor unless they receive it ' with 
 
 * faith and rightly.' But what warrants no such 
 
143 
 
 inference in one case, cannot warrant it in the 
 other. 
 
 But;, as the case of infants is obviously attended 
 with difficulties peculiar to itself, the church has 
 entered into explanation upon the subject: 
 which, though among the passages omitted by 
 Mr. Mant, is of great importance in the argu- 
 ment. In the catechism, it having been stated^ 
 that the things ' required of persons to be bap- 
 ' tized' are ' repentance^, whereby they forsake 
 ' sin, and faith, whereby they steadfastly believe 
 ' the promises of God made to them in that sa- 
 
 * crament;' the question occurs^, ' Why then are 
 
 * infants baptized, when by reason of their tender 
 ' age they cannot perform them ?' Now what 
 should we have expected as the simple and na- 
 tural answer to this question ? I remember for- 
 merly to have thought, that the words of the 
 twenty-seventh article, ' The baptism of young 
 ' children is in any wise to be retained in the 
 ' church, as most agreeable with the institution of 
 
 * Christ,' would have furnished a more obvious 
 and more satisfactory answer, than that which is 
 given. And so they certainly would have done, 
 if it had been intended only to assign our autho- 
 rity for baptizing infants. But the answer re- 
 turned makes it clear, that the question was de- 
 signed to introduce an explanation of the church's 
 
144 . 
 
 views in receiving infants, and considering them 
 in the manner she does. The answer is, ' Because 
 ' they PROMISE them both' ( both repentance and 
 faith,) * by their sureties ; which promise, when 
 ^ they come to age, themselves are bound to per- 
 
 ^ FORM.' 
 
 It is, then, avowedly, upon the ground of this 
 promise, and in the expectation of its perform- 
 ance, that the church admits infants to baptism : 
 and consequently it is upon the same ground, 
 that she proceeds to speak of them in the manner 
 we are considering. 
 
 Here, therefore, is the same system of charitable 
 supposition, which we have seen pervade the office 
 for adult baptism. The prayers offered are sup- 
 posed to have been sincerely offered ; the pro- 
 mises made, it is presumed, will be performed ; 
 and, UPON these assumptions, the infant is spoken 
 of as ' regenerated by God's Holy Spirit.' But 
 if these conditions fail ; if the prayers have been 
 offered in mere form; if the child, ' when he comes 
 ' to age,' shews no disposition to keep his vows ; 
 then I feel myself warranted to conclude, that 
 the spiritual blessing, dependent upon such con- 
 ditions is, with regard to him, null and void : 
 and that, although, having been admitted into 
 the visible church by the external sign of bap- 
 
 7 
 
145 
 
 tisiTi with water, he needs not to be baptized 
 again, jet without " the baptism of the Holy 
 *' Ghost/' without ' spiritual regeneration/ he 
 never can be a member of ttie spiritual church of 
 Christ, (consisting of all true believers,) or come 
 to the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 If it be thought, that there has been some more 
 difficulty in making out this case than that of 
 adults ; I beg to suggest, that it is nothing more 
 than what naturally results from the condition of 
 infants, supposed to make vows, and, on the faith 
 of those vows, pronounced regenerate; while they 
 can give no evidence, in their conduct, either of 
 a regenerate or an unregenerate state. And, on 
 the other hand, does Mr. M. find no difficulty in 
 the case of thousands and millions, whom he sup^ 
 poses to have been actually ' quickened by the 
 ' Holy Spirit,' and to have had ' a new principle of 
 * life and of action infused into them,' at their bap- 
 tism, whose life and actions, from their earliest to 
 their latest days, give no evidence of any such 
 principle existing within them ? 
 
 I do therefore consider the passage, which I 
 have quoted from the catechism, as furnishing, 
 and designedly furnishing, the true key to the 
 meaning of the church, in the language which 
 
 * P. 60. 
 
146 
 
 she uses concerning infants. She requires of then* 
 by their sureties, as she does of adults personally, 
 certain vows ; she assumes their disposition, as 
 they become capable of it, to perform those vows; 
 and she speaks of them as ( what upon that sup- 
 position they must be,) regenerate, and the 
 children of God by adoption and grace.* 
 
 Hitherto I have considered the word regenera- 
 tion as used only in its highest and most spiritual 
 sense ; and have endeavoured to shew, under 
 what limitations it may, in that sense, be applied 
 as it is in these services. But it is not to be over- 
 looked, that there is a lower sense, which, like 
 many other terms of high import, it may bear, 
 and in which many persons understand it to be 
 used in the ofifices of our church. 
 
 This I shall more fully explain from Bishop 
 Hopkins ; whose ' Doctrine of the two Sacra- 
 
 * T am aware, that the part of the catechism, which treats of 
 the sacraments, like the office fur adult baptism, is of later date 
 than the rest : but it is equally authority with us : and, added as it 
 was, may be supposed to have been designed to furnish explanation, 
 where explanation might be wanting. — I do not take any separate 
 notice of the service for private baptism. That is but a sort of 
 inchoate and imperfect proceedmg, which is afterwards to be com- 
 pleted elsewhere. It implies, however, all the same things which ac- 
 tually take place in the public service. 
 
147 
 
 ' ments,' and ' Nature and Necessity of Regener- 
 
 * ation/ well deserve the reader's attentive peru- 
 sal.* 
 
 He observes, that ' to be sanctified imports, in 
 
 * the proper signification of it;, no other than to 
 
 * be appointed, separated, or dedicated to God.' 
 And so persons and places are often said to be 
 consecrated and sanctified to the Lord.f But 
 then there are ' two ways of dedication unto God 
 • . . . the one external, by men ; the other internal^ 
 ' and wrought by God himself/ 
 
 ' As there is this twofold dedication or separa- 
 ' tion, so there is also a twofold sanctification, 
 ' There is an external, relative, or ecclesiastical 
 ' sanctification ; which is nothing else, but the 
 
 * devoting or giving up of a thing or person unto 
 ' God, by those who have power so to do. There 
 
 * is an internal, real, and spiritual sanctification : 
 
 * and, in this sense, a man is said to be sanctified, 
 ' when the Holy Ghost doth infuse into his soul 
 ' the habits of divine grace, and maketh him par- 
 ' taker of the divine nature, whereby he is in- 
 ' wardly qualified to glorify God in a holy life.* 
 
 * They are to be found in the second volume of his Works, as 
 lately re-published by the Rev. Josiah Pratt, B. D. 
 
 t Exod. xiii. 2. xxviii. 41. xix. 23. Num. vii. 1. Heb. ix. 15. 
 2 P«t. i. 18. 
 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 In applying this distinction to baptism^ he 
 lajs down the two following propositions. 
 
 1. 'Baptism is the immediate means of our ex- 
 
 * ternal and relative sanctijication unto God. — 
 ' By this holy sacrament^ all that are partakers of 
 ' it are dedicated and separated unto him.' 
 
 From this it follows, as he shews at large, ' that 
 
 * those, who are baptized, may in this ecclesias- 
 
 * tical sense, be truly called saints, the children of 
 
 * God, and members of Christ, and, thereupon, 
 ' inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. — Doubt- 
 ' less, so far forth baptism is a means of sanctifi- 
 
 * cation, as it is the solemn admission of persons 
 ' into the visible church ; as it separates them 
 ' from the world, and from all false religions in 
 ' it, and brings them out of the visible kingdom 
 ' of the devil, into the visible kingdom of Jesus 
 ' Christ. . .But this is only a relative sanctity, not 
 ' a real : and many such saints and sanctified 
 ' men there are, who shall never enter into heaven; 
 ' but, by their wicked lives, forfeit and lose that 
 
 * blessed inheritance to which they were called. 
 
 * Many there are, who are saints, by their sepa- 
 ' ration from paganism and Judaism into fellow- 
 ' ship with the visible church ; but they are not 
 ' saints, by their separation from wicked and un- 
 ^ godly men into a spiritual fellowship with 
 
149 
 
 ^ Christ. And yet, to such saints as these, all the 
 
 * ordinances of the church are due, till, for their 
 ^ notorious wickedness, they be cut off from that 
 ' body, by the due execution of the sentence of ex- 
 
 * communication.' * — And then immediately fol- 
 low the words, which, it has been observed above, 
 Mr. M. quotes, though not with perfect fairness : 
 ' Such a baptismal regeneration as this is must 
 ' needs be acknowledged by all, that will not 
 ' wilfully shut their eyes against the clear evi- 
 ' dence of scripture ; from which I have before 
 
 * brought plentiful proofs to confirm it. ■ 
 
 His lordship's second proposition is this : 
 
 2. ' That baptism is not so the means of an in- 
 ' ternal and real sanctijication, as if all, to whom 
 ' it is administered, were thereby spiritually re- 
 ' newed, and made partakers of the Holy Ghost 
 
 * in his saving graces. 
 
 ' Though an external and ecclesiastical sancti- 
 ' fication be effected by baptism, e.v opere operato, 
 ' by the mere administration of that holy sacra- 
 ' ment ; yet so is not an internal and habitual 
 ' sanctification : and that^ whether we respect 
 
 * adult persons or infants. For adult persons we 
 
 * have a famous and uncontrollable instance, in 
 
 * See Matt, xiii. 28—30, 
 
150 
 
 • the baptism of Simon Magus, who believeduipon 
 ' the preaching of the gospel ; ( for so it is said 
 Acts, viii. 13. ) and, upon the profession of faith 
 in Jesus Christ, was admitted to the holy ordi- 
 nance of baptism. Yet, ver. 23, St. Peter tells 
 him, that he was still in the gall of bitterness, 
 and in the bond of iniquity : in the same state 
 of sin and misery, and as much a blackmoor 
 when he came out of the laver, as he was before 
 he entered into it. — And, for infants, it is not 
 easy to be conceived, what inward work can, in 
 an ordinary manner, pass upon them. . . .How- 
 ever, baptism was not instituted to any such 
 purpose, that it should be an instrument of 
 working a real change upon infants : for neither 
 can it work this change by any immediate and 
 proper efficiency, since the washing of the body 
 cannot thus affect the soul, nor infuse any gra- 
 cious habits into it, which itself hath not; 
 neither can it work morally, by way of suasion 
 and argument, because infants have not the use 
 of reason to apprehend any such. Again, if 
 this baptismal regeneration be real, by the infu- 
 sion of habitual grace, how comes it to pass that 
 the greater part of those, who have received it, 
 lead profane and unholy lives, and too, too many 
 perish in their sins ?. . .Therefore I judge it un- 
 sound doctrine, to affirm, that baptism doth 
 confer real sanctification upon all infants, ai 
 
151 
 
 * well as upon some adult persons^ who are made 
 *■ partakers of it/ 
 
 He then supposes it objected, that ' the church 
 ' hath appointed a prayer in the office of baptism 
 ' wherein we bless God, that it hath pleased him 
 ' to regenerate the baptized infant with his Holy 
 ' Spirit :' and he remarks upon it, ' to this I an- 
 ' swer, that the baptismal regeneration of infants 
 ' is external and ecclesiastical. They are regenc- 
 
 * rated, as they are incorporated into the church 
 
 * of Christ : for this is called regeneration, Matt. 
 ' xix. 28. Ye which have folloxved me in the re- 
 'generation :. . .i. e. in planting my church, which 
 ' is the renewing of the world. . .To be admitted, 
 ' therefore, by baptism, into the church of Christ, 
 ' is to be admitted into the state of regeneration, 
 
 * or the renewing of all things.* 
 
 * But how then are infants said, in baptism^ to 
 ' be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, if he doth not 
 
 * inwardly sanctify them in and by that ordinance? 
 
 * I answer. Because the whole oeconomy and dis- 
 ' pensation of the kingdom of Christ is managed 
 ' by the Spirit of Christ: so that those, who are 
 ' internally sanctified, are regenerated by his 
 ' effectual operation ; and those, who are only 
 ' externally sanctified, are regenerated by his 
 ' public institution. Infants, therefore, are in 
 
152 
 
 * baptism regenerated by the Holy Ghost, because 
 
 * the Holy Spirit of God appoints this ordinance 
 
 * to receive them into the visible church, which 
 
 * is the regenerate part and state of the world.' 
 
 He adds two further propositions. 
 
 3. ' It is not so the means of sanctification, as 
 
 * if none could be internally and really sanctified, 
 
 * zvho are necessarily deprived of that holy ordi- 
 
 * nance. 
 
 4. * Baptism is an ordinary means appointed 
 ' by Christ, for the real and effectual sanctifca- 
 ^ tion of his church. — For this is the great end of 
 ' all gospel-ordinances, that, through them, might 
 
 * be conveyed that grace, which might purify 
 ' the heart and cleanse the life.' * 
 
 In this lower, external, and ecclesiastical sense, 
 therefore, we may affirm, unconditionally, the 
 
 * Hopkins's Works, vol. ii. p. 416 — 428. Again, p. 468, he thus 
 expresses the same sentiments : ' There is, indeed, a baptismal re- 
 
 * generation, whereby all, that are made partakers of that ordinance, 
 
 * are, according to scripture language, sanctified, renewed, and made 
 
 * the children of God, and brought within the bond of the covenant : 
 ' but all this is but after an external manner ; as being, in this ordi- 
 
 * nance, entered members of the visible church. This external re- 
 ' generation by water entitles none to eternal life, but as the Spirit 
 
 * moves upon the face of these waters, and doth sometimes secretly 
 
 * convey quickening virtue through them,' 
 
153 
 
 regeneration of all ' to whom baptism is rightly 
 * administered/ 
 
 But^ in the higher and spiritual sense of the 
 term, we can predicate regeneration of baptized 
 persons, only hypothetically : namely^ upon the 
 supposition, in the case of adults, of their since- 
 rity ; and, in the case of infants, of their possess- 
 ing that disposition, which shall lead them, when 
 they become capable of it, to keep their baptismal 
 vows. 
 
154 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 That the hypothetical Principle pervades the 
 Services of the Church. 
 
 XF any thing could be wanting to reconcile us 
 to the admission of a principle so natural and so 
 common, as that of supposing professions made 
 to be made sincerely, it would surely be sufficient^ 
 to find it generally adopted in the services of the 
 church. * She puts,' as it has been justly ob- 
 served, * the language of real Christians into the 
 ' mouth of all her worshippers,' because they 
 profess to bear that character. Not only does 
 she in the collect for Christmas day use the lan- 
 guage, * Grant that we being regenerate, and 
 ' made thy children by adoption and grace, may 
 * daily be renewed by the Holy Spirit;' but in 
 that for the Epiphany, ' Mercifully grant, that 
 ' we, which know thee now by faith, may after 
 ' this life have the fruition of thy glorious God- 
 ' head.' The former of these prayers Mr. M. 
 would fain"^ mould into an argument for his 
 views: * but the hypothetical principle better 
 explains them both, and it alone can explain the 
 
 * P. 17, 18. 
 
155 
 
 latter. We profess to be ' regenerate and the 
 ' children of God by adoption and grace/ and 
 ' to know God by faith ;' our profession is as- 
 sumed to be just, and we are spoken of accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 But I would more particularly apply the re- 
 mark to certain occasional services of the church. 
 
 And, in the first place, to the confirmation ser- 
 vice, which Mr. M, quotes, as decidedly making 
 for him. The bishop who presides at the office, 
 it is true, is directed thus to pray : ' Almighty 
 ' and everliving God, who hast vouchsafed to re- 
 
 * generate these thy servants by water and the 
 ' Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them forgive- 
 
 * ness of all their sins ; strengthen them, we be- 
 
 * seech thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the 
 ' comforter, and daily increase in them thy mani- 
 ' fold ^'gifts of grace;' &c. Here Mr. M. ob- 
 serves, ^ The assertion is plain and direct : the 
 
 * church affirms by the mouth of one of her go- 
 ' vernors, and she affirms it in the most solemn 
 ' form of a prayer to the almighty and everliving 
 ' God, that he has vouchsafed to regenerate his 
 ' servants, who come now to be confirmed, by 
 
 * water and the Holy Ghost : not, as has been 
 ' confidently alleged, with a 'view to blessings 
 
156 
 
 ' contingent upon their future endeavours,*' but 
 ' with a view to those^ which at baptism they ac- 
 ' tuallj receive.'f 
 
 Now it is^ ill the first place, observable, that, 
 in quoting the above passage, Mr. M. stops short 
 of the clause, ' daily increase in them thy mani- 
 ' fold gifts of grace,' which implies that already 
 they possess these gifts in some measure ; and of 
 what nature they are, the following clauses ex- 
 plain, — ' the spirit of wisdom and understanding ; 
 ' the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength ; the 
 'spirit of knowledge and time godliness;' &c. 
 Again^ in commenting upon the passage, Mr. M. 
 entirely drops the clause, ' hast given unto them 
 ' forgiveness of all their sins ;' which must mean, 
 up to the present time, and not only at bap- 
 tism. This is as much ' affirmed,' as that God 
 hath regenerated ' these his servants :' but no 
 one, I presume, would assert the present forgive- 
 ness of all the persons to be confirmed, uncondi- 
 tionally, merely on account of their baptism, and 
 without any supposition made concerning the 
 present state of their minds. And, lastly, what 
 is most important of all, Mr. M. makes no allu- 
 sion to what has preceded, in this very service, 
 respecting ' these God's servants.' They have 
 
 * The reference is to Mr. OTerton, p. 104. t P- 16, 17. 
 
157 
 
 been admonished concerning the nature and in- 
 tent of confirmation^ and the instructions prepa- 
 ratory to it; the end of which is, that, 'being 
 
 * now come to years of discretion, and having 
 *^ learned what their godfathers and godmothers 
 ' promised for them in baptism, they may them- 
 
 * selves, openly before the church, ratify and con- 
 ' firm the same ; and also promise, that by the 
 ' grace of God they will evermore endeavour 
 'themselves faithfully to observe such things, as 
 ' they, by their own confession, have assented 
 ' unto.' They have next been interrogated by 
 the bishop : ' Do ye here, in the presence of 
 ' God, and of this congregation, renew the so- 
 ' lemn promise and vow that was made in your 
 ' name at your baptism ; ratifying and confirm- 
 
 * ing the same in your own persons, and acknow- 
 ' ledging yourselves bound to believe, and to do, 
 ' all those things, which your godfathers and 
 ' godmothers then undertook for you ?' And to 
 this solemn question ' every one' has ' audibly 
 ' answered, I do.' Now, to quote the ' affirma- 
 ' tion' without this admonition, examination, and 
 profession, is, to my apprehension, like quoting 
 an engagement, and suppressing the stipulation on 
 which it is made. Concerning persons who make, 
 and ai^e assumed sincerely to make such professions^ 
 we may safely affirm, both that God hath ' rege- 
 ° nerated them/ and that he hath ' given unto 
 
 5 
 
158 
 
 ' them forgiveness of all their sins' But he that, 
 after observing the spirit and conduct of too 
 many who come to confirmation, can affirm such 
 things of them absolutely, and merely on the 
 ground of their baptism, must have not only very 
 different views, but very different feelings, than I 
 either have, or would wish to have. , 
 
 I confidently conclude, therefore, that 'the 
 * affirmation' proceeds upon an assumption, that 
 the profession is sincerely made : and if that as- 
 sumption fail, the affirmation, concerning the 
 persons' being ' regenerate and pardoned,' fails 
 with it. — The confirmation service, therefore, 
 affords no instance of persons being pronounced 
 regenerate, without regard to their present state 
 of mind. 
 
 The visitation of the sick is the service to 
 which we will next proceed. Here occurs a 
 form of absolution which has caused difficulty 
 to many persons. ' Our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 ' hath left power to his church to absolve all 
 
 * sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of 
 
 * his great mercy forgive thee thine offences : 
 ' and, by his authority committed to me, I ab- 
 
 * solve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the 
 
 * Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 * Amen.' 
 
 6 
 
159 
 
 I meddle not with other questions to which 
 this formulary might give rise. But can any 
 one doubt, upon what ground the absolution 
 pronounced in it proceeds ? Will anyone imagine, 
 that it is pronounced absolutely, without any 
 thing supposed concerning the state of mind of 
 the absolved ? The very words of the preamble 
 would repel such an imagination, for they speak 
 only of ' a power to absolve sinners truly re- 
 
 * penting and believing in Christ.' But here, as 
 in the confirmation service, the key to the right 
 understanding of the passage is to be found in 
 what precedes. This absolution is not to be pro- 
 nounced till after the minister has ' examined ' 
 the sick person, * whether he repent him truly 
 
 * of his sins, and be in charity with all the 
 
 * world :' not till he has ^ moved him to make a 
 ' special confession of his sins, if he feel his con- 
 
 * science troubled with any weighty matter.' 
 
 * After which confession,' it is directed, ' the 
 
 * priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and 
 
 * heartily desire it, ) after this sort.' 
 
 Who does not see, then^ that the absolution 
 proceeds upon the supposed sincerity of the re- 
 pentance, faith, and charity, professed by the 
 person absolved ? And, accordingly, as a pre- 
 ceding prayer had implored, that ' strength 
 ^ might be added to his faith, and seriousness to 
 
160 
 
 ' his repentance/ — which supposes him already 
 to possess repentance and faith ; so the prayer, 
 which next follows, pleads in his behalf, ' foras- 
 ' much as he putteth his full trust only in God's 
 ' mercy.' 
 
 The same is the case in the service for the 
 churching of women. The woman returning 
 thanks is assumed to be ^ the servant of the 
 ' Lord/ and ' to put her trust in him :' and is 
 prayed for accordingly. 
 
 Another service^ which has occasioned diffi- 
 culty to many persons, is that for the burial of 
 the dead. Here we speak of almighty God 
 having been pleased, ' of his great mercy, to take 
 ' unto himself the sou\ of our dear brother^ or 
 'sister, departed/* And, again, we "^ give him 
 
 * I do not cite the words which follow — ' We commit his body 
 ' to the ground. . .in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eter- 
 * nal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ :' because they do not seem 
 to me to require even that simple sort of comment, which I offer on 
 the others. I cannot but wonder that friends of the church should 
 have found such a difficulty, or foes such a handle in them, as they 
 have done. The latter, indeed, have sometimes descended to direct 
 mis-quotation in order to create, or strengthen the difficulty. The fact 
 is, that these words describe the Christian hope generally, without 
 special reference to the individual. The language seems designedly 
 varied for this purpose. We commit his body to the ground, in sure 
 ' and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life.' It is not said 
 ai his resurrection, but, generally, ' o^the resurrection.' And accord- 
 ingly it immediately follows, likewise in general language, ' who shall 
 
161 
 
 ' thanks that it hath pleased him to deliver our 
 ' deceased brother^, or sister^, out of the miseries 
 ' of this sinful world/ Here no one doubts, 
 that the language employed proceeds upon the 
 supposition^ that the deceased was in reality, what 
 he is understood to have been in profession^ a 
 sincere Christian. Whether in any cases, here 
 or elsewhere, the system of charitable hope and 
 suppositioji may have been carried too far, is not 
 the present subject of inquiry. It is sufficient 
 for my purpose to shew, that that system does 
 pervade the other services of the church, and 
 therefore that it is not unreasonable to believe 
 it to have been adopted in the offices for the ad- 
 ministration of baptism. 
 
 Finally, I maintain that the catechism is com- 
 posed upon the same principle. In it children 
 are taught to speak of themselves, as ' in bap- 
 ' lism made members of Christ, children of God^ 
 ' and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.' In 
 profession, indeed, and, as Hooker's language is, 
 ' in the eye of the church/ they were undoubt- 
 
 * change our vile body,' &c. I am far from denying that the service 
 supposes the deceased to be among those who may expect a blessed 
 tesurrection : I am admitting and asserting this. But that is not the 
 thing expressed in this part of the service ; and when it is afterwards 
 expressed, it is in much more measured language : ' that we may rest 
 
 * in him, as our hope is this our brother doth,' 
 
162 
 
 edly made such :* but, if the words are to be 
 taken in a higher and more spiritual sense, then 
 it must be here supposed, that they have subse- 
 quently shewn themselves to be indeed ' dead 
 ' unto sin, and born anew unto righteousness.' 
 And accordingly it is to be observed, that the 
 same persons, who are taught to use the above 
 language, also answer as follows to the question, 
 ' Dost thou not think that thou art bound to 
 ' believe and do as thy godfathers and god- 
 ' mothers promised for thee * in thy baptism ? 
 ' Yes verily, and by God*s help so I will: and / 
 
 * heartily thank our heavenly Father, that he 
 ' hath called me to this state of salvation, through 
 
 * Jesus Christ our Saviour : and I pray unto God 
 
 * to give me his grace, that I may continue in 
 ' the same unto my life's end/ And again after- 
 wards they profess faith in *God the Hol;f Ghost, 
 ' who sanctifieth them and all the elect people of 
 
 * God ?' Here the things supposed are explicitly 
 enough avowed. Whoever does heartily pur- 
 pose and endeavour, ' by God's help,' to keep iiis 
 baptismal vows ; whoever does ^ heartily thank * 
 God, and devoutly ' pray unto him to give him 
 
 * his grace ;' whoever is ' sanctified by God the 
 
 * Holy Ghost, among the elect people of God,* 
 is undoubtedly * a member of Christ, a child of 
 
 • See extracts from Bp. Hopkins, close of c. vii. 
 
163 
 
 ' God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of hea- 
 * ven/ in the highest sense of the terms. Who- 
 ever has, from the time of his baptism, possessed 
 the disposition of mind, which these things im- 
 ply, has undoubtedly been such from that time. 
 But he who will affirm, that the very act of bap- 
 tism necessarily makes a person such, seems to 
 me to draw, from a few misinterpreted expres- 
 sions, conclusions alike opposed to reason, to 
 scripture, and to the doctrines of our church. 
 
 M § 
 
164 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 That the same Principle is adopted in Scripture. 
 — An important Question in the Interpretation 
 of the sacred JVritings. — Circumstances under 
 which the strotig Language, used concerning 
 baptized Persons, was introduced. 
 
 JiiVERY reader of scripture, and particularly 
 of the apostolic epistles, must have observed, that 
 whole bodies of Christians are continually ad- 
 dressed, as partakers of the most exalted privileges 
 and invaluable blessings. They are spoken to as 
 persons who, '' being justified by faith, have peace 
 " with God through our Lord Jesus Christ : " 
 as " those who shall be saved from wrath 
 '^ through him :" as '' reconciled to God :" * as 
 washed, sanctified, justified, in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God:"t 
 as ^'^ sons of God, into whose hearts God hath 
 " sent forth the Spirit of his Son : " ]]] as " blessed 
 ^' with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places 
 '' in Christ : " as '' sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
 '' promise, which jis the earnest of their inherit- 
 " ance : " § as persons " quickened from death in 
 '^ trespasses and sins : " 1| as '^ having all their sins 
 " forgiven them for Christ's sake :" %. as those itv 
 
 * Rom. V. f 1 Cor. vi. ^ J Gal. iv. 
 
 § Eph. i. II Eph. ii. Col. \u 1[ Eph. iv. Col. ii. 
 
 te 
 
165 
 
 whom " God hath begun a good work, which h« 
 " will perform unto the day of Christ : " * as *' a 
 " chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a pecu- 
 " liar people, that they should shew forth the 
 '' praises of him, who had called them out of 
 *' darkness into his marvellous light : " f as '' the 
 " sons of God, who, when their Lord shall ap- 
 " pear, shall be like him, for they shall see him 
 f' as he is." % 
 
 Now respecting all these, and an indefinite 
 number of like passages, the following question 
 arises : Seeing they are addressed to societies con- 
 sisting of mixed characters, " tares and wheat 
 '' growing together," how are they to be inter? 
 preted ? Does all this exalted and delightful 
 language express nothing more, than was commou 
 to Simon Magus with St. Peter ? to the incestuous 
 Corinthian with St. Paul ? to Diotrephes with St. 
 John ? Is its meaning to be so lowered down 
 and evaporated, that it may apply to all profes- 
 sors of Christianity, not excepting the most 
 hypocritical, or the most profligate, as well as to 
 the most consistent and honourable ? Common 
 readers will doubtless be startled at such ques- 
 tions. But too true it is, that they are not su- 
 perfluous. A system has been devised, or at least 
 ' matured and methodized,' by an Ariari dissenter, 
 
 * Phil. i. f 1 Peter ii. J 1 John iii. 
 
166 
 
 which, owing to circumstances much to be la- 
 mented, we are taught to believe is ' at present 
 ' extensively and increasingly prevalent among 
 ' our clergy ; ' and according to which, all these 
 terms, apparently ' expressive of an internal 
 ' state,' are made to mean ' nothing but external 
 * privileges :' and from the leaven of this doctrine 
 Mr. M. does not appear to be altogether free.* 
 Leaving it to others more formally to refute so 
 mischievous a scheme,f I shall content myself 
 with briefly asigning my reasons for adopting a 
 very different mode of interpretation. 
 
 I admit, indeed, that many high terms may 
 occasionally be used in describing the privileges 
 enjoyed by persons, as members of the visible 
 church of Christ. J But this does not induce 
 me to believe, that all the exalted language, 
 which has been quoted, is so applied. To dis- 
 prove this, I should think it sufficient to appeal 
 only to the common sense of every serious and 
 pious reader. Let any such person carefully 
 peruse, for example, six or eight verses at the 
 beginning of St. Peter's first epistle, where he ad- 
 
 * See p. 8, 35, 45, Sec. 
 
 f I am happy to refer to a refutation of Dr. Taylor's ' Key to the 
 * Apostolic Writings/ and to a substitute for it, in a series of papers in 
 the Christian Observer for 1807, which have been subsequently ac- 
 knowledged as the work of the late excellent rector of ClapheRn, the 
 K,f; V.John Venn, M.A. 
 
 i See extracts frora Bp. Hopkins, close of c. vii. 
 
(e 
 <c 
 <e 
 
 (C 
 
 tt 
 
 167 
 
 dresses the disciples^ as '^ elect according to the 
 foreknowledge of God the Father, through 
 sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and 
 sprinkling of the blood of Jesus :" as, " accord- 
 " ing to the abundant mercy of the God and 
 *' Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, begotten 
 again to a lively hope, through the resurrection 
 of Jesi^s Christ from the dead, to an inheritance 
 incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 *^ away, reserved for them in heaven," — they being 
 " kept by the power of God, through faith unto 
 *' salvation :" as " greatly rejoicing" in this hope, 
 *' though now for a season (if need were,) they 
 *^ might be in heaviness through manifold temp- 
 *' tations : that the trial of their faith, being much 
 ,^' more precious than that of gold that perisheth, 
 " though it be tried with fire, might be found to 
 '' praise and honour and glory at the appear- 
 " ing of Jesus Christ : — whom, having not seen, 
 " they loved ; in whom, though now they saw 
 '^him not, yet believing, they rejoiced with joy 
 *' unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the 
 *' end of their faith, even the salvation of their 
 " souls." Now, I ask. Can all the sophistry of 
 man persuade any plain pious Christian, of com- 
 petent understanding, that all this language means 
 nothing more, than "^ what belongs to all professed 
 ' Christians without exception,' ' even to those, 
 ' who/ though they should persevere in their 
 
168 
 
 present course, 'shall perish eternally?** The 
 supposition carries its own refutation on the face 
 of it 
 
 But, further, not only is language expressive 
 of privilege thus applied to bodies of Christians, 
 but language directly and necessarily expressive 
 of moral e.rcellence is applied with equal libera- 
 lity. They are spoken of, as ^' dead to sin," as 
 well as freed from condemnation : as those who 
 had been '' the servants of sin, but who had now 
 " obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine de- 
 'Mivered unto them :" f as '^'walking not after 
 '' the flesh, but after the Spirit." The Corin- 
 thians are spoken of '" as washed and sanctified," 
 no less than '^'^ justified: " ;|; The Ephesians " in 
 '' time past walked in trespasses and sins,"§ but 
 it is implied, that they did so no longer. '' The 
 '^ work of faith, and labour of love, and patience 
 " of hope "11 of theThessalonians, were ''^ remem- 
 bered by the apostle without ceasing :" " their 
 faith grew exceedingly," and " their charity 
 '' towards each other abounded." Those, to 
 whom St. Peter wrote, were sanctified "to obe- 
 '*^ dience : " '' loved the unseen Saviour," and 
 " had purified their souls, in obeying the truth, 
 " through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the 
 
 * Dr. Taylor's words. f I^om. vi. J 1 Cor. yi. 
 
 § £ph. ii. II Thess. i. 
 
 (S 
 
169 
 
 *' brethren." * Now whatever else could;, these 
 things certainly could not;, be predicated of any 
 but trucj and purC;, and holy, and obedient be- 
 lievers : and therefore whatever difficulty may be 
 imagined to arise, from the application of the lan- 
 guage in question to ' large societies ' of Chris- 
 tians;, it is not to be removed by explaining the 
 whole, of things common to all professed Chris- 
 tians, 
 
 And finally, the limitation, the distinction, 
 though usually left to be supplied by the com- 
 mon sense of the reader, is yet frequently enough 
 expressed, to prevent its being overlooked or for- 
 gotten. A very few instances may evince this. 
 '' Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit," St. 
 Paul says to the Romans, f '' if so be that the 
 Spirit of God dwell in you : " but *' if any 
 man have not the Spirit of Christ," so 
 far from God being ' his God, king, saviour;, 
 ' ' father, husband, shepherd,' | &c. on the 
 ground of his being ^ professed Christian — 
 '^ he is none of Christ's." ^' As many as are led 
 " by the Spirit of God," he says, '' they are the 
 " sons of God." § To the Corinthian Christians 
 the same apostle writes, " Examine yourselves 
 " whether ye be in the faith ; prove your own 
 '' selves : know ye not your own selves, how that 
 
 * 1 Pet. i. t C. viii. J Dr. Taylor. § Rom. viii. 
 
 
li 
 
 '^ Jesus Chrst is in you, except ye be repro- 
 " bates ?" * Though, speaking generally to the 
 Galatians, he says, '' Ye are all the children of 
 *' God by faith in Jesus Christ," yet he elsewhere 
 tells them, that he *^ stood in doubt of them;" and 
 admonishes them^, that in Christ Jesus no faith 
 availed but that which " worked by love," no- 
 thing short of '• a new creature." f Address- 
 ing the PhilippianSj he assigns his reason for 
 thinking so favourably of them as he did : " Even 
 ^' as it is meet for me to think this of you all, 
 " forasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the de- 
 fence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are 
 partakers of my grace." ^ The Colossians he 
 expressly addresses upon the ground of their pro- 
 fession : '^ 7/" ye then be risen with Christ seek 
 " those things which are above." § I do not 
 mean to say, that these hypothetical sentences 
 were intended to convey any specific doubt of 
 their sincerity : but certainly they did convey a 
 reference to their professions, and a call to act 
 consistently with them. — In like manner St. Peter 
 says to those to whom he wrote, " If so be ye 
 " have tasted that the Lord is gracious." ll And 
 St. John affirms, that, *• if we say we have fellow- 
 " ship with God, and walk in darkness," or live 
 in sin, " we lie, and the truth is not in us :" and 
 
 *2Cor. fGal.iii. 26. v.e.vi. 15. J Phil. i. f . 
 
 S Col. iii. II 1 Pet. ii. 
 
 4 
 
171 
 
 that hereby only " do we know that we know 
 " Christ, if we keep his commandments." * 
 
 On the whole, then, I think it palpably evi- 
 dent, that we are by no means to solve the diffi- 
 culty, (if difficulty it deserve to be called,) arising 
 from the general application of exalted language 
 to Christian churches, by lowering its meaning 
 so as to adapt it to all professed Christians, An 
 unspeakably easier and more obvious, I should 
 have thought it a self-evident, solution is, that of 
 understanding professed Christians to be addressed 
 upon the ground of their profession — upon the 
 supposition of their sinceriti/. This^ we have 
 seen, is continually done by our church : more or 
 less it must be done at all times : and never could 
 it be so natural to do it, as when the very profes- 
 sion of Christianity brought with it many dan- 
 gers to men's property, to their liberty, and even 
 to their lives. In such times the apostles wrote, 
 and in similar times the language was intro- 
 duced, which has led men too frequently to con- 
 found the outward sign with the inward grace of 
 baptism; or at least to suppose, that the latter 
 necessarily accompanies the former. In such 
 times it was natural and reasonable to believe, 
 that professed Christians were real Christians — 
 that those who were ' baptized* were indeed ' re- 
 * generate by the Spirit of God.' And this affords 
 
 . * 1 John i. ji. 
 
172 
 
 a most easy account of the means by which the 
 strong language, that has been so long in use, 
 was brought into the church. 
 
 The circumstances of those times, as compared 
 with our own, and the effect of them upon the 
 language employed concerning professed Chris- 
 tians, have been well set forth by the learned pre- 
 late already frequently referred to. Though be- 
 lieving that Jesus is the Son of God, and the Sa- 
 viour of the world, ^ is not,' he says, ' regenera- 
 
 * tion, yet it was then almost an infallible test of 
 ' it ; and to persuade men to believe that Jesus 
 ' was the Christ, was to prevail upon them to be 
 ' truly and really converted. It was seldom seen 
 ' among those primitive Christians, where there 
 
 * were no carnal respects nor outward advantages 
 ' that could commend the gospel to the secular 
 
 * interests of men ; when the only reward of pro- 
 
 * fessing Christ was reproaches, persecution, and 
 ' martyrdom : seldom was it seen, that any were 
 ' won over from heathenism or Judaism^ to make 
 ' profession of the despised name of Christ, but 
 
 * such, as were inwardly renewed by that almighty 
 ' grace, that can conquer all the despites and af- 
 ' fronts of the world : few were so foolish as to 
 ' profess Christ in hypocrisy, when that hypo- 
 ' crisy would endanger their own lives ; and yet, 
 ' because it was but in hypocrisy, it could gain 
 
 * them no benefit by his death. Therefore it is. 
 
173 
 
 /• that the scripture speaks of thosC;, that made a 
 ' profession of the name of Christ, as if they 
 ' were regenerated, because it was then almost 
 
 * an infallible mark of it. Thus you have it in 
 
 * in 1 John iv. 15: Whosoever shall confess that 
 ' Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, 
 ' and he in God . . .But now, when the very name 
 
 * of a Christian is become a title of honour, and 
 
 * the same punishments do now attend the deny- 
 
 * ing of Christ, that then attended the acknow- 
 ' ledgment of him, men may indeed be called by 
 ' his name that never were effectually called by 
 ' his grace, and may make a profession of the 
 
 * true faith and yet remain Christian infidels. * 
 
 The following quotation is from a tract, of 
 which more particular notice will shortly be 
 taken: — ' It is the way of the scriptures to speak 
 
 * to and of the visible members of the church of 
 
 * Christ, under such appellations and expressions, 
 *■ as may seem at first hearing to imply, that they 
 ' are all of them truly righteous and holy per- 
 ' sons .... The reason of which is, that they were 
 ' xiisibly by obligation and by profession all 
 ' this ; which was thus represented to them, the 
 ' more effectually to stir them up and engage 
 
 * them to live according to their profession and 
 
 * obligation.' f 
 
 * Bp. Hopkins, Works, vol. ii. p. 471. 
 
 t Bp. Bradford, on Baptismal and Spiritual Regeneration, 
 
174 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 That Regeneration is not restricted to Baptism hy 
 the Church of England — by the English Re- 
 formers — by the Divines to whose Authority 
 Mr. Mant appeals — orhy the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge. 
 
 I, X HE Church of England. — I here confine 
 myself strictly to the term regeneration, and not 
 merely to the doctrine. My proof is taken from 
 the Homily for Whitsunday. It has occurred ac- 
 cidentally, and might probably be supported by 
 other instances, were pains taken to search for them. 
 I give the passage at length, because it both exhi- 
 bits the doctrine of the church on some kindred 
 points, of great importance, and presents us with, 
 what must be, ia Mr. M.'s eyes, an extraordinary 
 phenomenon, — a discussion on regeneration, and 
 the third chapter of St. John's gospel, without 
 even the mention of baptism ! 
 
 * Where the Holy Ghost worketh, there nothing 
 
 ' is impossible ; as may further also appear by 
 
 the inward regeneration and sanctif cation of 
 
 viankind. When Christ said to Nicodemus^ 
 
175 
 
 * Unless a man he born anew, of water' and tht 
 
 * Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, 
 
 * (John iii. 5,) he was greatly amazed in his 
 ' mind, and began to reason with Christ ; de- 
 ' manding how a man might be born which was 
 
 * old. Can he enter, saith he, into his wMher's 
 
 * womb again, and so be born anew ? Behold a 
 
 * lively pattern of a fleshly and carnal man ! He 
 
 * had little or no intelligence of the Holy Ghost ; 
 
 * and therefore he goeth bluntly to work, and 
 
 * asketh how this thing were possible to be true. 
 ' Whereas, otherwise, if he had known the great 
 
 * power of the Holy Ghost in this behalf, that it 
 ' is he which inwardly worketh the regeneration 
 
 * and new birth of mankind, he would never have 
 
 * marvelled at Christ's words ; but would have 
 ' rather taken occasion thereby to praise and glo- 
 
 * rify God. 
 
 ' For as there are three several and sundrv 
 
 * persons in the Deity ; so have they three several 
 
 * and sundry offices proper unto each of them ; 
 
 * the Father to create, the Son to redeem, the 
 ' Holy Ghost to sanctify and regenerate. Whereof 
 
 * the last, the more it is hid from our understand- 
 ' ing, the more it ought to move all men to won- 
 
 * der at the secret and mighty working of God's 
 
 * Holy Spirit, which is within us. For it is the 
 
 * Holy Ghost, and no other thing> that doth 
 

 176 
 
 •^ quicken the minds of men ; stirring up good 
 
 * and godly motions in their hearts, which are 
 
 * agreeable to the will and commandment of God; 
 ' such as otherwise of their own crooked and per- 
 
 * verse nature they should never have. That 
 
 * which is born of the flesh, saith Christ, is flesh ; 
 
 * and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 
 
 * (John iii. 6.) As who should say, Man of his 
 ' own nature is fleshly and carnal, corrupt and 
 ' naught, sinful and disobedient to God, without 
 ' any spark of goodness in him, without any vir-' 
 ' tuous or godly motion, only given to evil 
 ' thoughts and wicked deeds. As for the works 
 ' of the Spirit, the fruits of faith, charitable and 
 
 * godly motions, if he have any at all in him, 
 ' they proceed only of the Holy Ghost; who is 
 
 * the only worker of our sanctification,and maketh 
 
 * us new men in Christ Jesus. Did not God's 
 
 * Holy Spirit miraculously work in the child 
 
 * David, when of a poor shepherd he became a 
 
 * princely prophet? (1 Sara, xviii. 27.) Did 
 ' not God's Holy Spirit miraculously work in 
 ' Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom, 
 
 * (Matth. ix. 9,) when of a proud publican he 
 ' became a humble and lowly evangelist ? And 
 ' who can choose but marvel, to consider that 
 
 * Peter should become, of a simple fisher, a chief 
 ' and might}' apostle ? Paul, of a cruel and 
 
 * bloody persecutor, a faithful disciple of Christ 
 
177 
 
 " to teach the gentiles ? Such is the power of the 
 ' Holy Ghost TO REGENERATE MEN, mid, as it wevc, 
 * to bring them forth anexv, so that they shall be 
 ' nothing like the men that they were before. 
 
 ' Neither doth he think it sufficient inwardly 
 ^ to work the spiritual and new birth of man, 
 ' unless he do also dwell and abide in him. Know 
 ' ye not, saith St. Paul, that ye are the temple of 
 ' God, and that his Spirit dwelleth inyoii? (1 Cor. 
 ' iii. 16.) Knozv ye not that your bodies are the 
 ' temples of the Holy Ghost, which is within you ? 
 ' Again he saith, You are not in the flesh, but in 
 ' the Spirit. For zvhy ? The Spirit of God 
 ' dzvelleth in you. (Rom.viii. 9.) To this agreeth 
 ' the doctrine of St. John, writing on this wise : 
 ' The anointing xohichye have received — he niean- 
 ' eth the Holy Ghost — dwelleth in you. ( 1 John 
 ' ii. 27. ) And the doctrine of Peter saith the 
 ' same, who hath these words : The Spirit of glory 
 ' and of God resteth upoji you. ( 1 Pet. iv. 14.) 
 
 * O what comfort is this to the heart of a true 
 ' Christian, to think that the Holy Ghost dwelleth 
 ' within him ! If God be with us, as the apostle 
 ' saith, who can be against us ? (Rom. viii. 31.) 
 
 ' O but how shall I know that the Holy Ghost 
 ' is within me ? some man perchance will say, 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 '^ Forsoothj as the tree is known by his fruit, so is 
 ' also the Holy Ghost. The fruits of the Holy 
 " Ghost, according- to the mind of St. Paul, arc 
 '^ these : love, joy^ peace, long-suffering, gentle- 
 ' ness_, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, tempe- 
 
 * ranee, &c. (Gs\. v. 22. 23.) Contrariwise, the 
 ' deeds of the flesh are these : adultery, fornica- 
 
 * tion^ uncleanness, wantonness, idolatry, witch- 
 ' craft, hatred, debate, emulation, wrath, conten- 
 
 * tion, sedition, heresy, envy, murder, drunken- 
 ' ness, gluttony, and such like. 
 
 ' Here is now that glass, wherein thou must 
 ' behold thyself, and discern whether thou hare 
 ' the Holy Ghost within thee, or the spirit of the 
 ' flesh. If thou see that thy works be virtuous 
 'and good, consonant to the prescript rule of 
 ' God's word, savouring and tasting not of the 
 ' flesh, but of the Spirit; then assure thyself that 
 
 * thou art endued with the Holy Ghost ; other- 
 ^ wise, in thinking well of thyself, thou dost 
 ' nothing else but deceive thyself/ * 
 
 Here is the very term regeneration, and rege- 
 neration by the Holy Ghost , used for a change of 
 
 * The two last paragraphs furnish a very sufficient answer to Mr. 
 M.'s assertion, p, 25, * that, if the work of regeneration is not effected 
 
 * by baptism, . . . v,e are left without' any other criterion, than ' our 
 ' own imaginations, or our own feelings, to detennine whether' we are 
 
 regenerate or not. 
 
179 
 
 mind^ which produces ' good and godly motions 
 'in the heart;' by which, and by the conduct 
 resulting from them, we are taught to determine 
 whether we be endued with the Holy Ghost or 
 not. The term is applied to the change wrought 
 in David, St. Matthew, St, Peter, and St. Paul. 
 Now what authority is there for ascribing St. 
 Peter's change^, from ' a simple fisher to a mighty 
 ^ apostle,' to his baptism ? What, for saying one 
 word of baptism in the case of ' Matthew, sitting 
 ^ at the receipt of custom, when of a proud pub- 
 ' lican he became a humble and lowly evange- 
 ' list ?' And, most of all, what has the ' regener- 
 ' ation' of David, ' when of a poor shepherd he 
 ' became a princely prophet,' to do with baptism? 
 — Whatever be the nature of the change here 
 described by it, the passage demonstrates, that 
 the church does not confine the term to bap- 
 tism, or the effect of baptism, or consider ^any 
 ' other than baptismal regeneration as impossible 
 ' in this world.' 
 
 II. The English Reformers. — Here, again, 
 I do not pretend to have carried my investigation 
 to' any great length. A few decisive passages 
 must suffice. 
 
 . Archbishop Cranmer is unequivocal in de- 
 claring, that the inward grace does not always ac- 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 company the outward sign. He says, ' As in 
 * baptism, those who come feignedly, and those 
 ' that come unfeignedly, both be washed with 
 ' the sacramental water ; but both be not washed 
 ' with the Holy Ghost, and clothed with Christ : 
 ' so in the Lord's supper/ &c.* And, again, 
 ' Whosoever cometh to that water, being of the 
 ' age of discretion, must examine himself duly, 
 ' lest if he come unworthily, (none otherwise 
 ' than he would come unto other common water,) 
 ' he be not renewed in Christ, but instead of sal- 
 ' vation receive his damnation.' — Does, then, 
 this venerable metropolitan and martyr ' doubt 
 ' the inward and spiritual grace of baptism,' and 
 
 * deny its sacramental character ?' No one, as- 
 suredly, will affirm it, — This, however, is not pre- 
 cisely the subject of the present chapter, 
 
 Latimer, bishop and martyr, speaks more 
 directly upon it. — ' Christ saith, E.vcept a tnn 
 
 * be born again from above, he cannot see the 
 
 * kingdoin of God. He must have regejieration : 
 ' and what is this regeneration ? It is not to be 
 ' christened in water (as these firebrands* ex- 
 ' pound it,) and nothing else. How is it to be ex- 
 ' pounded then ? St, Peter sheweth, that one place 
 
 * of scripture declareth another.. ..Saith St. Peter, 
 ' We be born again. How ? Not by a mortal seed, 
 
 ♦ Fathers of the Enghsh Church, vol, iii, p. 335. 
 f Meaning the Papists. 
 
181 
 
 * but by an immortal. What is this immortal 
 ' seed ? By the word of the living God. By the 
 
 * word of God preached and opened. Thus 
 
 * COMETH IN OUR NEW BIRTH.' * 
 
 Mr. M, f quotes from this venerable reformer 
 a passage which contains nothing decisive : but 
 how far he is from sanctioning Mr. M.'s doctrine, 
 that regeneration or new^-birth is ' conveyed ex- 
 ' clusively by baptism/ the reader may now 
 judge. 
 
 Hooper, bishop and martyr. ^ Such as be bap- 
 
 * tized must remember, that repentance and faith 
 ' precede this external sign ; and in Christ the 
 
 * purgation was inwardly obtained, before the 
 ' external sign was given. So that there are two 
 ' kinds of baptism, and both necessary. The 
 ' oneinterior^ which is the cleansing of the heart, 
 ^ the drawing of the Father, the operation of the 
 ' Holy Ghost : and this baptism is in man^, when 
 ' he believeth, and trusteth that Christ is thQ 
 ^ only actor of his salvation.' — 'Thus be the in- 
 ^ fants examined concerning repentance and faith, 
 ' before they be baptized with water ; at the 
 ' contemplation of which faith, God purgeththe 
 
 * soul. Then is the exterior sign and deed not to 
 
 'purge the heart ; but to confirm, manifest, and 
 
 * open unto the world, that this child is God's.' — 
 
 * Fathers, &c. vol. ii. p. 654, 655. f P. 37. 
 
182 
 
 ' A traitor may receive the crown, and yet be true 
 ' king- nothing the more : so a hypocrite and infi- 
 
 * del may receive the external sign of baptism, 
 
 * and yet be 7io Christian man, any the more; as 
 ' Simon Magus and others.' * 
 
 The discerning reader will discover, in this 
 passage, corroboration of several things which 
 have already been advanced, and of some which 
 remain to be urged. 
 
 John Frith, martyr. * This outward sign doth 
 ' neither give us the Spirit of God, neither yet 
 ^ grace, that is, the favour of God. For, if 
 ' through the washing of the water the Spirit of 
 ' grace were given, then it would follow, that 
 ' whosoever were baptized in the water should 
 ' receive this precious gift. But that is not so ; 
 ' wherefore I must needs conclude, that this out- 
 ^ ward sign, by any power or influence that it 
 ' hath, bringeth not the Spirit and favour of 
 ' God. That every one receiveth not this trea- 
 ' sure in baptism it is evident : for put the case, 
 
 * that a Jew or an infidel should say that he did 
 ' believe, and believe not indeed ;• and upon his 
 ' words were baptized indeed, (for no man can 
 'judge what his heart is, but we must receive 
 ' him unto baptism, if he confesses our faith 
 .* with his mouth, albeit his heart be far from 
 
 * Fathers, &c. vol. v. p. 169, 170, 171. 
 
183 
 
 ^thence,) this miscreant, now thus baptizecf, 
 ' hath received this outward sig*n and sacrament 
 ' as well as the most faithful man believing.* 
 ' Howbeit, he neither receiveth the Spirit of 
 
 * God, neither yet any grace but rather con- 
 ' demnation.' — ' It foUoweth that the outward 
 ' sign giveth no man any grace. Moreover^ if 
 ' the Spirit of God and his grace were bound 
 ' unto the sacraments, then where the sacraments 
 
 * were ministered, there must the Spirit of grace 
 ' wait on ; and where they were not ministered 
 " should be neither Spirit nor grace. But that 
 
 * is false ; for Cornelius and all his household re- 
 ' ceived the Holy Ghost, before they were bap- 
 
 * tized. Here we may see that^, as the Spirit of 
 ' God lighteth where he wilh neither is he bound 
 ' to any thing. Yea, and this example doth well 
 ' declare unto us, that the sacraments are given 
 ' to be an outward witness to all the congrega- 
 ' tion of that grace, which is given before pri- 
 ' vately to every man,' — ' When we baptize one 
 ' that is come unto the years of discretion, we 
 ' ask of him whether he believe : if he answer, 
 ' Yea, and desire baptism, he is baptized : so 
 ' that we require faith of him, before he be bap- 
 ' tized, (which is the gift of God, and cometh of 
 ' grace,) and so it is an outward sign of his invi- 
 ' sible faith, which was before given him of God.' 
 
 * Qu. living? 
 
184 
 
 ' His supposition ' ( Rastall's) ' is, that all 
 ' men which are baptized with material water, 
 ' are very Christian men^ and have the true faith, 
 ' and are those which Paul affirmeth to be with- 
 ^ out spot^ blame, or zvrinkle.*' But thereto I 
 '^ saj;, Nay : for even as the outward circumcision 
 " made not the Jews the elect people, and chil- 
 ' dren of salvation ; so doth not the outward 
 
 * baptism make us the faithful members of Christ: 
 ' but, as they were the children of God, who 
 ' were inwardly circumcised, even so they, that 
 
 * are washed inwardly from the concupiscence 
 ^ of this world, are the members of Christ.' f 
 
 Clement, who escaped martyrdom by dying 
 in prison. ' Until the Spirit of regeneration be 
 
 * given us of God, we can neither will, do, speak, 
 ' nor think any good thing, that is acceptable 
 ' in his sight. Let us therefore always pray to 
 
 * God, that he will make in us a clean heart, and , 
 ' renew in us an upright spirit.' "^ Let the reader 
 observe the connexion of the parts in this sen- 
 tence, and then determine whether it be not an 
 exhortation to us to pray for regeneration'^ 
 
 * See Mant, p. S3. Above, p. 52. 
 
 t Fathers, Sec. vol. i. p. 384 — 386, 408. 
 
 X Fathers, &c. vol. ir. p. 296. Clement's Confession "^ may be 
 ' looked upon as an account of the belief of the professors in tho&e 
 * days.' Strype. 
 
 § Mant, p. 43. 
 
185 
 
 Mr. M. quotes from King Edward's cate- 
 chism as follows : ' Baptism doth represent and 
 ' set before our eyes that we are by the Spirit of 
 ' Christ new born^, and cleansed from sin ; that 
 
 * we be members and parts of his church, re~ 
 *^ ceived into the communion of saints. For wa- 
 *^ ter signifieth the Spirit.' What confirmation 
 of his sentiments Mr. M. finds in this passage, I 
 am at a loss to conceive. That baptism ' repre- 
 
 * sents ' and ' signifies ' these things is not dis- 
 puted : but that it was the doctrine of King 
 Edward's days, that the sign and the thing sig- 
 nified always went together, no one, I think, 
 can believe, after reading the passages just re- 
 cited. Of this, however, I add one more 
 confirmation from another catechism of great 
 repute, I mean, that usually called Dr. Now- 
 ell's. It is supposed to have been prepared 
 by the same persons who drew up our articles. 
 It was sanctioned by the convocation which 
 sanctioned the articles. It was recommended 
 by the king's letters patent, and its use enjoined 
 by the privy council. It has also been recently 
 re-published by two distinguished prelates. Bishop 
 Cleaver and Bishop Randolph. Now in what 
 manner does this catechism speak upon the point 
 before us ? It speaks in a manner which may 
 serve as a key, perhaps, to the right understanding 
 of many of Mr. M.'s quotations, ' The water 
 
 5 
 
186 
 
 ' is only a representation of divine things, but 
 " by no means a trifling or false one, inasmuch as 
 ' the truth of the things themselves is united 
 ' with it; for as God offers us in baptism the 
 ' forgiveness of our sins and newness of life, so 
 ' are they trul}^ received bv us. Far be it from 
 ' us to suppose that God would delude us with 
 ' false appearances.' Now had Mr. M. observed 
 this passage, would he not have deemed it de- 
 cisively in his favour ? But hear how it is inter- 
 preted in what presently follows. ' But all do 
 ' not indiscriminately , and in common, obtain this 
 
 * grace (regeneration). The faithful alone reap 
 ' this blessing. The unbelieving, by rejecting 
 
 * the promises of God presented in baptism, 
 ' shut themselves out, and go axvay empty : yet 
 ' they do not cause the sacraments, for that rea- 
 
 * son, to lose their nature and virtue. The use of 
 
 * baptism therefore consists in faith and repent- 
 ' ance.' — No doubt many of Mr. M.'s authorities 
 are to be understood in the same way : that is, they 
 speak only 'of those who ^ receive the sacraments 
 ' rightly,* though he has understood them to speak 
 of all, to whom the sacraments are " rightly ad- 
 ' ministered.' 
 
 III. The Fathers and other Divines cited 
 BY Mr. Mant. — I had not intended at all to med- 
 dle with any other of Mr. M.'s authorities, than 
 
 1 
 
187 
 
 the scriptures^ and the sanctioned writings of the 
 church of England : and I have intimated as much 
 in a note on a former chapter. My reasons were, 
 partly, that I consider no other authorities, how- 
 ever respectable, as binding upon us, either as 
 Christians, or as churchmen ; and partly the 
 time and labour, which the examination of va- 
 rious authors, to collect their sentiments upon a 
 given topic, must cost. But, in turning over the 
 pages of a valuable periodical publication, I 
 have met with a number of passages, which may 
 sufficiently answer my purpose, and which will 
 doubtless add to the reader's satisfaction. 
 
 Mr, M. avails himself with great confidence 
 of the authority of the fathers : and I readily 
 admit, that he may adduce many things from 
 them which may be really, and many more which 
 are apparentlii, favourable to his views. He ob- 
 serves, ^ Baptism, indeed, and regeneration, the 
 ' terms which specifically denote the outward 
 
 * sign and the spiritual grace, appear to have 
 ' been employed by early Christians, as expres- 
 ' sions of the same import.' But would Mr. M. 
 hence infer, that the two things were believed to 
 be the same, or inseparably connected together ? 
 St. Austin, as quoted in the ' Homily of common 
 
 * prayer and the sacraments,' will furnish him with 
 a better explanation of the fact, ' He saith. If 
 
188 
 
 '^' sacraments had not a certain similitude of those 
 ' things of which they be sacraments, they should 
 ' be no sacraments at all. And of this similitude 
 
 * they do, for the most part, receive the names 
 ' of the self-same things they signify.' Combine 
 with this, what was observed at the close of the 
 preceding chapter, concerning the circumstances 
 of the primitive times, and the comparatively 
 
 ' few instances, in which the profession of faith 
 was separated from a real conversion of the heart 
 unto God ; and the interchange of the terms 
 for each other will be satisfactorily explained, 
 without supposing that, among primitive Chris- 
 tians, the sign was confounded with the thing 
 signified, or the one supposed to be inseparable 
 from the other. 
 
 This may account, as far as it is necessary to 
 account, for the language quoted from Justin 
 Martyr.* 
 
 St. Austin is the only father whom Mr. M. 
 cites, beside Justin, and the language ascribed to 
 him has been noticed above. f To Mr. M/s 
 quotation, I beg leave to oppose what follows. 
 ' Theodoret's opinion, as often quoted by the old 
 ^ writers ... is. Gratia sacramentum aliquando 
 
 * prcecedit, aliquando sequitur, aliquando nee se^ 
 
 * Tracts, p. 38. f P- 49, note. 
 
189 
 
 ' quitur.* St. Augustine (on the 77tb Psalm) 
 ' thus resolveSj Omnes eundem potum spiritualem 
 
 * biberunt, sed non in omnibus bene placitum est 
 ' Deo : et cum essent o^nnibus communia sacra- 
 ' menta. non communis erat omnibus gratia, quce 
 
 * sacramentorum virtus est. Sicut et nunc, jam 
 
 * re'oelatdjide, quce tunc velabatur, omnibus, in 
 
 * nojnine Patris, et Filii, et Spii^itus Sancti bap- 
 
 * tizatis, commune est Iwoacrum regeiierationis ; 
 ' sed ipsa gratia, cujus sunt sacramenta, qua niem- 
 ' bra corporis Christi cum suo capite regenerata 
 ' sunt, non communis est omnibus.-\ In his fifth 
 ' book against the Donatists, c. 24, he says, 
 
 * Christ is put on sometimes, usque ad sacramenti 
 ' percept ionem, as far as the receiving of the sa- 
 ' crament, sometimes also unto sanctifcation of 
 ' Ife ; the frst is common to good and bad. the 
 ' other is proper to the good and godly. St. 
 ' Chrysostom, in his fifth homily on St. Matthew, 
 ' observes. Many are baptized with water, who 
 
 * are not baptized with the Holy Ghost ; they 
 
 * 'Grace sometimes precedes the sacrament, sometimes follows It, 
 
 * and sometimes does not even follow it.' 
 
 f ' All did drink the same spiritual drink, but not with all was God 
 ' well pleased : and, whereas the sacraments were common to all, 
 ' the grace was not common to all, which constitutes the virtue of the 
 ' sacraments. So also now, when faith is revealed, which was then 
 
 * veiled, the laver of regeneration is common to all, who are baptized 
 ' in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; 
 
 * but the grace itself, of which they are sacraments, and by which the 
 
 * members of the body of Christ are regenerated with their head, is 
 
 * not common to all.' 
 
J 90 
 
 *" seem to be the sons of God in respect of their 
 ' baptism, but indeed they are not the sons of 
 
 * God^ because they are not baptized with the 
 ' Holy Ghost. St. Jerome has a similar passage, 
 
 * in his commentary on the third chapter of the 
 ' Galatians.' * 
 
 More direct contradiction to Mr. M.'s prin- 
 ciples cannot easily he conceived. Instead of 
 regeneration heing always conveyed by baptism, 
 ' Grace sometimes precedes, sometimes follows^, 
 ' and sometimes not even follows, the sacra- 
 ' ment.' Instead of all baptized persons being 
 spiritually regenerate, ' The washing of rege- 
 ' neration is common to all, but not so that grace 
 
 * of the sacrament, by which the members of 
 ' Christ are regenerated with their head." ' The 
 ' putting on of Christ, as far as the receiving of 
 
 * the sacrament, is common to good and bad ; the 
 ' putting him on to the sanctificatibn of life is 
 ' peculiar to the good and godly.' ' Many are 
 ' baptized with water, who are not baptized with 
 ' the Holy Ghost : and these are not indeed the 
 ' sons of God.' 
 
 * Christian Observer, 1804, p. 565. Many valuable papers, con- 
 nected with the subjects of this work, are dispersed through the 
 volumes of the Christian Observer. See particularly, vol. for 1802, 
 p. 764 : 1803, p. 396, 561 : 1804, p. 565 : 1809, p. 794: 1811,p.584: 
 1812, p. 365 : 1813, p. 161, &c. 
 
191 
 
 These passages evince, both that, in the judg- 
 ment of these fathers, regeneration is not re- 
 stricted, either as to the name or the thing, to 
 what takes place at baptism ; and that baptism 
 may be ' rightly administered ' and no spiritual 
 regeneration conveyed. 
 
 Hooker may be deservedly placed at the head 
 of the more modern divines of whose authority 
 Mr. M. avails himself. In the same place, from 
 which I have taken the above quotations from 
 the fathers, I find the following observations re- 
 specting his sentiments on the subject before us : 
 
 * No author is more express as to the efficacy of 
 ^ the sacraments, and the necessity of our using 
 " them, than he is ; but, by comparing different 
 ' parts of his works together, it will appear, that 
 ' he did not extend their virtue in that unlimited 
 
 * and indiscriminate manner ' which some now 
 wish to do, ' Speaking as he generally does, 
 
 * in the name of real believers,' he uses language 
 which constitutes Mr. M.'sonly quotation from 
 him, as follows : ' As we are not naturally men 
 ' without birth, so neither are we Christian men, in 
 ' the eye of the church of God, but by new birth; 
 ' nor, according to the manifest ordinary course 
 ' of divine dispensation, new born, but by that 
 ' baptism, which both declareth and maketh us 
 
192 
 
 ' Christians. In which respect we justly hold i{ 
 ' to be the door of our actual entrance into GocTs 
 ' house, the first apparent beginning of life ; a 
 ' seal perhaps to the grace of election before re- 
 " ceived^ but to our sanctification here, a step 
 ' that hath not anv before it.' * 
 
 If the reader will duly attend to the words 
 marked in italics^ and which are certainly very 
 important to the sense of the passage^ he may find 
 the whole much less favourable to Mr. M.'s sen- 
 timents^ than might at first be supposed. Hooker 
 speaks principally of what takes place ' in the 
 ' eye of the church/ of ' our entrance into God's 
 'house/ or the church; of ' ihe ^\:?i apparent 
 ' beginning of life / of ^ the ordinary course of 
 ^ divine dispensation / and of ' our sanctification 
 ' here :' which last expression, when compared 
 with his avowed sentiment, that ' grace' and ' the 
 '^ inward baptism' may precede the outward, must 
 evidently mean our separation and outward con- 
 secration to God, as before explained from Bishop 
 Hopkins. 
 
 On the whole, the following passages will be 
 found, I think, much more clearly against Mr. 
 M,, than this appears to be in. his favour. 
 
 * Book T. c, 60, p. 248. 
 
193 
 
 ' They/ the sacraments, ' are not physical, but 
 '^ moral instruments of salvation, duties of service 
 
 * and worship : which unless we perform as the 
 
 * author of grace requireth, they are unprofitable: 
 'for, all receive not the grace of God which re- 
 
 * ceive the sacraments of his grace/ * How does 
 this accord with Mr. M's notion of a sacrament 
 necessarily or constantly conveying the inward 
 grace of which it is a sign ? 
 
 ' If outward baptism were a cause in itself pos- 
 ' sessed of that power, either natural or superna- 
 
 * tural, without the present operation whereof no 
 ' such effect could possibly grow ; it must then 
 ' follow, that. . .no man could ever receive grace 
 ' before baptism : which being apparently both 
 ' known, and also confessed to be otherwise,'f &c. 
 
 Again : ^ It is on all parts gladly confessed, 
 •" that there may be in divers cases life by virtue 
 ' of inward baptism, even where outward is not 
 
 ^ found.' I 
 
 Is not this regeneration before baptism ? and 
 without baptism ? Yet Mr. M. says, ' no other 
 
 * Book V. § 57, p. 239. f Ibid. p. 246, 247. 
 
 t Ibid, p, 230. 
 
194 
 
 ' than baptismal regeneration is possible in thi» 
 ' world.' 
 
 Bishop Beveridge is an author whom Mr. M. 
 repeatedly quotes : and certainly the language 
 which in one sermon he uses, respecting the con- 
 nexion between regeneration and baptism, is very 
 strong. Yet the following passages, from his 
 seventy third sermon, (on 1 Pet. i. 3.) shew, that 
 there was no small difference between his senti- 
 ments and those of Mr. M. 
 
 ' When a man believes in Christ the second 
 ' Adam, and so is made a member of his body, he 
 ' is quickened and animated by his Spirit, which 
 
 * being the principle of a new life in him, he 
 ' thereby becomes a new creature, another kind 
 
 * of creature from what he was before, and there- 
 ' fore is properly said to be born again, not of 
 ' bloodf nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the 
 
 * will of man, but of God, . .His whole nature is 
 ' changed. . .He hath a new set of thoughts and 
 
 * affections, a new sight and sense of God, a new 
 ' bias upon his mind, so that he is now as much 
 ' inclined to virtue as he was before to vice ; and 
 ' of a foolish, proud, sinful, and carnal creature, 
 
 * is become wise, and humble, and holy, and spi- 
 "^ ritual. . .And whereas other men are born only 
 ' of the flesh, such a one is regenerate, or born 
 
195 
 
 ^ AGAIN of the spirit, according to that remark- 
 ' able saying of our blessed Saviour, That which 
 
 * is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is 
 ' born of the Spirit is spirit. . .every thing being 
 ' of the same nature with that, from which it 
 ' proceeds. . .Hence all such are called the sons 
 ' OF God, and are really so.' * 
 
 All this, and much more to the same effect, 
 occurs under the first general head of the sermon, 
 namely, ' That the saints of God are begotten 
 
 * again by him.' The venerable prelate quotes 
 John iii. 5, yet he says not a word of baptism 
 in the whole discussion ! Nay, were it possible for 
 any one to persuade himself, that such a change, 
 as he describes, is made in the nature of every 
 man by his baptism, the bishop shews, that he, at 
 least, has no such thing in his contemplation ; 
 for he expressly refers it to the time, ' when 
 a man believes in Christ,' not to the time when 
 he is baptized. 
 
 The learned Joseph Mede is quoted by Mr. M. 
 for the sentiment, ' that in the baptism of Christ 
 ' the mystery of all our baptisms was visibly 
 ' acted ; and that God says to every one truly 
 ' baptized, as he said to him, in a proportionable 
 ' sense. Thou art my son, in whom I am well 
 
 * Beveridge's Works, vol. i. p. 609, 610. 
 
 2 
 
196 
 
 * pleased.' * Now surely it is but reasonable^, un- 
 less the context irresistibly determine otherwise, 
 to understand here, by ' truly baptized/ what our 
 church expresses by ' receiving baptism rightly.* 
 For who would presume to affirm, that God says 
 to a wicked man, hypocritically receiving bap- 
 tism, " Thou art my son, in whom I am well 
 " pleased ?" — And that Mede's sentiments do 
 indeed correspond with this interpretation, as 
 well as that he does not confine regeneration to 
 the period of baptism, will be evident from the 
 following extract. ' Regeneration, or new birth, 
 ' consists of these two parts — repentance towards 
 ' God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ : 
 ' . . . that is, the whole mystery of regeneration, 
 ' whereby a man becomes the child of God, and 
 ' a member of the kingdom of heaven. Both 
 'joined together make a nexv birth, or a new 
 ' man.' f How does this agree with the idea, 
 that the new birth is inseparable from baptism, 
 and '^ that no other than baptismal regeneration 
 ' is possible in this world?' 
 
 In his second tract, Mr. M. twice refers to 
 Barrow. The reader who will turn to the second 
 volume of his works. Sermon 34, will find, that 
 this great man ' represents regeneration to be a 
 ' spiritual change, effected by the influence of the 
 * Tracts, p. 3$. t Mede's Discourses, 1668. p. 30. 
 
197 
 
 * Holy Spirit^ on the mind^, the will, and the affec- 
 ' tions of an adult sinner/ * and even describes^ 
 somewhat minutely ;, the sort of process by which 
 it is produced. ' Both these operations together,' 
 he says, ' (enlightening our minds, sanctifying 
 ' our will and affections,) do constitute and ac- 
 ' complish that work, which is styled the regene- 
 ' RATION, renovation, mmjication, new-creation, 
 ' resurrection of man ; the faculties of our souls 
 ' being so improved, that we become as it were 
 ' other men thereby ; able and apt to do that, for 
 ' which before we were altogether indisposed and 
 ' unfit.' — Barrow, therefore, is a stranger to Mr. 
 M/s distinction between regeneration and renova- 
 tion : nor does he appear to have any idea of con- 
 fining regeneration to baptism. 
 
 The following passage is from Archbishop Til- 
 lotsen*s Sermon on Galatians vi. 15. ' After 
 ' many strugglings and conflicts with their lusts, 
 ' and the strong bias of evil habits, this resolution, 
 ' assisted by the grace of God, does effectually 
 ' prevail, and make a real change both in the 
 ' temper of their minds, and the course of their 
 ' lives ; and when that is done, and not before^ 
 ' they are said to be regenerate/ 
 
 If then, in preaching regeneration to baptized 
 
 t Christian Observer, 1812, p. 342. 
 
 4 
 
198 
 
 adultSj we be guilty of fanaticism ' and heresy,' 
 we have the satisfaction of knowing, that the 
 profound Barrow^ and the ' proverbially sober ' 
 Tillotson, have erred before us, and set us the 
 example 1 
 
 I add onl}' the following sentence from the 
 work, to which I have acknowledged myself in- 
 debted for most of these extracts. ' It is almost 
 ' unnecessary for us to remark, that it is usual 
 ' with our old divines to speak of bad Christians 
 ' as being unregenerate men : frequent instances 
 ' of this occur in the writings of Dr. Jackson, 
 ' Dr. Hammond, Bishop Hall, Bishop Sanderson, 
 ' and many other divines.' * 
 
 IV. The Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge. — My proposition is, that neither 
 has this society, in the works which it has circu- 
 lated^ been at all accustomed to restrict regene- 
 ration to any thing, which takes place at bap- 
 tism. — To ascertain the fact, I have looked infco 
 no more than three of its tracts, each of which 
 decisively proves my assertion. 
 
 - The first is the ' Directions for a devout and 
 ' decent behaviour in the public worship of God,* 
 
 * Christian Observer, 1804. p. 566. 
 
 6 
 
199 
 
 which, it has been already observed^ point out 
 the collect for Christmas-day as ' a Prayer for 
 ' Regeneration :' directly contrary to Mr. M/s 
 principle, that we are not to be ' instructed to 
 
 * pray after baptism for regeneration.' This, at 
 least, was the case, if I mistake not, with all edi- 
 tions of the tract up to the year 1812.* 
 
 The next is, ' An account of the beginnings 
 ' and advances of a spiritual life," which, though 
 written by another hand, has always accompanied 
 Scougal's '^ Life of God in the soul of man/ 
 The two works were first introduced to the world 
 by Bishop Burnet, who wrote a preface to them. 
 My quotations are from '^ the fourteenth edition, 
 
 * carefully corrected,' and published by the So- 
 ciety in 1801. In this tract, we find much con- 
 cerning ' converted ' men, ' the beginnings of 
 ' conversion,' ' first awakenings,' ' the inward lead- 
 
 * ings of God's Spirit, perceived by us,' and other 
 matter, which might have been thought very en- 
 thusiastic, had it proceeded from a more question- 
 able source than the Society for promoting 
 Christian knowledge. But besides this one section 
 is expressly entitled, ' The beginnings of regene- 
 ' ration.' Nor does this, or, as far as I have ob- 
 served, any contiguous part of the book, make 
 
 * The history of the change may be seen, Chris. Ob. 1814, p. 293. 
 ' The objection rested on tlie words containing false doctrine, since 
 ' we were regenerated in baptism only.' 
 
200 
 
 even an allusion to baptism ! On the contrary, 
 the author, having shewn "the state of most 
 *^ young persons/ that too many of them 'will 
 ' not let ' themselves ' think seriously, lest the 
 'impressions of their ' education return upon * 
 them ; and others have ' nothing to think of, 
 ' having never had a right scheme of religion set 
 ' before ' them ; proceeds as follows : ^ But when 
 ' God hath a purpose of love towards any such, as 
 ' are either lost in ^ice, or ruined in an insensible 
 ' neglect of God and divine things, he usually 
 ' begins to deal with them upon great and sudden 
 'emergencies, by a sickness, some great and out- 
 
 * ward trouble, or the loss of a dear friend, which 
 ' have brought on melancholy ; and perhaps 
 
 * sometimes upon the commission of some great 
 ' sin, that fills the conscience with horror : any 
 ' of these cases meeting with some serious good 
 ' sermon, or the converse of a sincerely pious and 
 ' affectionately devout person, or the reading of 
 ' some good book, will often occasion a great 
 ' excitation of mind, to consider the condition 
 ' and danger such a person is in ; and though I 
 ' deny not but some are insensibly, and, by de- 
 
 * grees, slowly wrought to a change of heart and 
 ' life, (and indeed there are no rules to be given 
 ' to the Almighty,) yet commonly the change is 
 ' notable in the first beginning ; a horror for past 
 ' sins, and sad apprehensions of the judgments 
 ' of God usually break in first/ 
 
201 
 
 On this ' horror for past sins ' the next section 
 is employed : and the author judiciously ob- 
 serveSj that ^ none are to measure their first re- 
 ' GENERATION^ either by the vehemence or by the 
 ' continuance of their sorrow, but by the efiects 
 ' it produceth/ 
 
 And again, in a subsequent section, (p. 130,) 
 he says, * God does very often meet young con- 
 
 * verts with setisible joy in his ways : . . and thus 
 ' generally there is a strong fervour about the he- 
 
 * ginning o/" regeneration/ 
 
 Now surely it is not for a society which has 
 been, through a century past, thus teaching us to 
 preach regeneration to baptized persons, and 
 to professed Christians a conversion in many 
 cases sensible, now to turn round, and, through 
 the medium of a book, which it has newly taken 
 up, to charge us with ' heresy/ and I know not 
 what ^ irreconcileable opposition to the unequi- 
 ' vocal and numerous declarations ' of the church 
 to which we belong; merely because we have 
 taught in conformity with the instructions which 
 it has itself given us ! and, I must say, have not 
 often taught in language less measured than is 
 found in some parts of these extracts ! 
 
 Were we disposed to retaliate, here is full 
 scope for the application of the resolve. 
 
£02 
 
 Dixerit insanum qui me, totidera audiet, atque 
 Respicere ignoto discet pendentia tergo.* 
 
 The last tract, to which I appeal, is ' A Dis- 
 *■ course concerning baptismal and spiritual Re- 
 ' generation : by Samuel Bradford, D. D. then 
 ' Rector of St. Mary-le-bow, London ; and af- 
 ' terwards Lord Bishop of Rochester/ The 
 text is Titus iii. 4 — 7 , a passage which has al- 
 ready engaged our attention. My copy is of 
 the seventh edition, printed for the Society in 
 1810 ; with the following advertisement pre- 
 fixed. ' This seventh edition is published at a 
 
 * time, when it is hoped, that so judicious and 
 
 * scriptural a discourse may be of service to settle 
 ' the minds of good Christians, in some present 
 
 * disputes concerning baptismal and spiritual 
 ' regeneration.' 
 
 Let us then hear the doctrine of this * judi- 
 ^ cious and scriptural discourse, for the settling 
 ' of om^ minds respecting the present dispute/ 
 The fourth general head is announced in these 
 words : ' To shew that the washing of regene- 
 ' ration may be separated from the renewing of 
 ' the Holy Ghost ; and that if it be so, the end 
 ' for which it is used, namely, our salvation, can- 
 ' not be obtained ; the latter being absolutelj 
 
 * He that calls me fanatic shall hear as good in return, and be 
 taught to consider what hangs unobserved upon his own back ! 
 
203 
 
 • necessary in order to our being saved, in the 
 ' complete sense of that word/ 
 
 Now I am well aware, that Mr. M. will be 
 ready with the demand, ' What is there in this 
 contrary to my doctrine ? I contend, indeed, 
 that spiritual regeneration takes place exclu- 
 sively at baptism ; but I distinctly admit, that 
 the subsequent " renewing of the Holy Ghost" 
 is necessary to the attainment of salvation.' 
 And thus, it may be thought, that the whole of 
 what I have to adduce from this discourse is 
 obviated. But such is by no means the case. 
 For, though Mr, M. makes a broad distinction 
 between spiritual regeneration and " the renew- 
 " ing of the Holy Ghost," Bishop Bradford is 
 to be added to the number of those divines, who 
 do no such thing. He interprets his text pre- 
 cisely as I have proposed to do, and not as 
 Mr. M. does. He considers the two clauses, 
 " the washing of regeneration/' and ^' the re- 
 " newing of the Holy Ghost," as ' exactly cor- 
 ' respondent ' to our Lord's expression '' born 
 "of water and of the Spirit;"* and accord- 
 ingly refers the former to ' the outward and vi- 
 ' sible sign of baptism,' and the latter to ' the 
 ' inward and spiritual grace.' With him, there- 
 
 * P. 10, 11, and see above, p. 45. So likewise Bp. Beveridge 
 on this text. ' By the washing with water as the sign of our rege- 
 * neration, and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost as the thing sig~ 
 ' nijied.' Works, vol. i. p. 304. 
 
204 
 
 fore, " the renewing of the Holy Ghost " and 
 ' spiritual regeneration * are precisely the same 
 thing,* 
 
 This being established, let us return to the 
 fourth head of the Bishop's discourse. The 
 express object of it is to shew, ' that the washing 
 ' of regeneration may be separated from the re- 
 * newing of the Holy Ghost:' that is, as we 
 have proved, that baptism may be separated from 
 spiritual regeneration. Let it be observed, that 
 his Lordship does not merely drop a casual ex- 
 pression or two looking this way ; but that he 
 sets himself to prove it, as a distinct proposition, 
 and founds upon it a whole head of his sermon. 
 
 * Not further to encumber my text, I throw the following proof* 
 of this into a note. 
 
 Page 11, he says, that in John iii. 3, 5, ' horn, and born again, 
 < plainly answer to regeneration in his text, as water and the Spirit 
 
 * answer to the zcashing of regeneration, and the renewing of the 
 ' Holi/ Ghost.' " Born of the Spirit " is, therefore, being " renewed 
 « by the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Again, in the same page, ' Regeneration ... is frequently applied 
 ' to baptism ; it also ' particularly denotes the renewing of the mind 
 ' hy the divine Spirit.' 
 
 P. 22, 23. He defines the renewing of the Holy Ghost * an altera- 
 
 * tion of the temper of our spirit, effected by the power of the divine 
 
 * Spirit.' It is the same, he says, with " giving men a new heart and 
 " a new spirit : with " God's putting his Spirit within them, and 
 " causing them to walk in his statutes :" with " being spiritually 
 " minded," and " transformed by the renewing of the mind :" with 
 *' putting on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the 
 *' image of him who created him." And then, having quoted 
 these and some other scriptures, he adds : ' Finally, this is what 
 
 * our Lord himself means, in his discourse with Nicod«mus, by being 
 
 * born of thi Spirit, as well as of water.' 
 
^05 
 
 He elsewhere thus expresses his meaning : * that 
 'external regeneration, if not accompanied with 
 ' the internal:, will not avail us to the end for 
 ' which it is designed/ * And;, in confirming 
 his proposition, he reasons thus : Though the 
 apostles speak of ' the visible members of the 
 ' church of Christ under such appellations and 
 
 * expressions as may seem at first hearing to im- 
 ' ply, that they are all of them truly righteous and 
 
 * holy persons/ yet ' it is too evident, from divers 
 ' passages in their writings, and experience hag 
 " confirmed to us the same thing, that both in 
 
 * their times and ever since, there have been 
 
 * many who have enjoyed the washing of regC" 
 
 * ne7^ation, whose tempers and manners have de- 
 
 * monstrated that they were not also renewed by 
 ' the Holy Ghost,' that is, in his sense of the 
 words, were not ''' born again of the Spirit/' 
 ' Simon Magus,' he adds, ' was a notorious in- 
 ' stance to this purpose, who, though the text 
 ' tells us that he believed and was baptized; yet 
 ' was soon after told by St. Peter, that he had 
 
 * neither part nor lot in that matter, namely, 
 ' the gift of the Holy Ghost,' f &c. 
 
 Exactly after the manner of our church ar- 
 ticles, but in a style very different from that of 
 Mr. M., he insists upon ' the right use,' and not 
 merely ' the right administration ' of the sacra- 
 
 * P. 11, t P. 37, 38. 
 
206 
 
 mentS;, in order to their proper effect. Baptism 
 
 * becomes to us a means whereby we are saved,' 
 as for other reasons, so * 4thly, as it is m the 
 ' right use of it a means of obtaining those bless- 
 ' ings which it represents.' * And again, ' All 
 ' the institutions of Christianity are represented 
 ' as so many means, in the use of which the di- 
 ' vine Spirit will be certainly communicated, if 
 ' we use them aright : which is the true reason/ 
 he adds, ^ why baptism and the gift of the Spirit 
 ' are so frequently joined together, as if they 
 ' were inseparable, as here in my text,' in John 
 iii, and in Acts ii. 38, 39, f — ' as if they were in- 
 ' separable,' evidently implying that they are not 
 really so. 
 
 ' Nor can it be otherwise conceived,' he says, 
 ' that God should accept of men only upon ac- 
 ' count of their having complied with some ex- 
 
 * ternal and ritual institutions, whilst they had 
 
 * no regard to the design of them. The institu- 
 ' tions of Christ do not work like charms : but 
 ' being appointed to be used by reasonable crea- 
 ' tures, there is a disposition ofinindin the person 
 
 * using them, necessary to the rendering them 
 ' effectual.' \ 
 
 Under the fifth and last head of his discourse, 
 he proceeds, therefore, ' to inquire. How those 
 
 * P. 13, 14. t P. 19. X P, 39. 
 
207 
 
 * persons, who have had the washing of regene- 
 
 * ration^ but are not yet renewed by the Holy 
 
 * Ghost, may attain to this renovation: ' that is, 
 according to what we have demonstrated to be, in 
 his view of things, synonymous language. How 
 they who have received '^ external regeneration, 'but 
 are strangers to ' the internal,' may become ' spi- 
 ' ritually regenerate/ And this he does, because 
 he says, ' it is to be feared, nay, it is evident, that 
 
 * many ' are in this case. * 
 
 We have here, then, a spectacle presented to 
 us, which demands the very serious consideration 
 of the members of the society at large, and of the 
 heads of our church in particular. Up to the 
 year 1810, or 1812, and perhaps later, the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge circulates 
 throughout the kingdom, under the high sanction 
 of its patronage, works which teach us, that bap- 
 tism is by no means inseparably connected with 
 spiritual regeneration ; which admonish us, there- 
 fore, notwithstanding our baptism, to look to 
 ourselves, lest, after all, we be not " born again 
 " of the Spirit," and ^ to pray for regeneration ;' 
 which describe to us 'the beginnings of regene- 
 
 * ration and conversion,' and point out to us how 
 we are to proceed in order to obtain spiritual re- 
 generation, if we be yet strangers to it : it cir- 
 
 * P, 41, 43. 
 
208 
 
 culates tracts containing these sentiments, as 
 'judicious and scriptural/ and suited, in the year 
 1810, to ' settle the minds of good Christians in 
 ' some present disputes concerning baptismal and 
 'spiritual regeneration:' and then, in 1815, it 
 adopts and circulates, under the same authority, 
 tracts which teach, that ' by baptism exclusively* 
 is spiritual regeneration conveyed ; that ' no other 
 ' than baptismal regeneration is possible in this 
 ' world;' that to suppose baptism separated from 
 spiritual regeneration is ' to strip it of its sacra- 
 ' mental character,' to deny its inward and spiri- 
 tual grace, — is ' heresy ' — is, ^ in some sense, 
 ' doing despite to the Spirit of grace ! ' Surely 
 there is much here to wwsettle " the minds of good 
 * Christians ! ' Surely there is some great mis- 
 management at the helm ! Can one forbear say- 
 ing, Here is a noble vessel, indeed, ample in her 
 dimensions, firmly built, well found with all 
 kinds of stores, capable of great service: to 
 whom is it owing, that she has been left thus to 
 float to and fro on the face of the deep, without 
 a certain destination ? 
 
209 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 That, by Mr. Manfs ozvn Concession, every adult 
 Person, ' receiving Baptism rightljj' is rege- 
 nerate before he is baptized. 
 
 "is 
 
 Mr. M. admits, that being '' born of God 
 the same thing as being *' regenerated." * Oq 
 the ground of this unavoidable admission^ I un- 
 dertake to prove the proposition at the head of 
 this chapter : and that^ independently of any pe- 
 culiar notions which I may be supposed to enter- 
 tain of regeneration. And my proof is very short 
 and simple. It is as follows. 
 
 We are justly taught by our churchy that, in 
 order to the right reception of baptism, by a 
 person come to years of discretion, repentance 
 and faith are necessary, f 
 
 Now St. John assures us, (1 Ep. v. 1.) that 
 " whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is 
 ''born," yiytvvnTcci, has been born, ''of God." 
 
 » P. 35, 44. 
 
 t See Catechism, and Art. xxv. xxvi. xxvii. and compare Mark 
 xvi. 16. Acts ii, 38. viii. 37, &c. &c. 
 
210 
 
 Hence it ihevitablj follows, that cTery grown 
 person who, ' by faith and rightly, receives ' bap- 
 tism, has been previously " born of God," or re- 
 generated. He must have been so, before that 
 faith could exist in his mind, without which bap- 
 tism could not be rightly received.' 
 
 Nor is this taking an unfair advantage of a 
 casual expression. Indeed I can form no idea of 
 casual, or, in other words, of incautious ex- 
 pressions in inspired writings.* But indepen- 
 dently of that consideration, I take it to be the 
 general and established doctrine of scripture, that 
 true faith is, in all cases, the effect of the regene- 
 rating influence of the Spirit of God upon the 
 mind. 
 
 And accordingly it will have been observed, 
 that many of the eminent writers, quoted in the 
 foregoing chapter, expressly admit the priority of 
 regeneration to baptism : and, in particular, the 
 great champion of our church avows, both that 
 a man may ' receive grace before baptism', and 
 that ' it is on all parts gladly confessed, that there 
 
 * It is a valuable observation of Dr. Doddridge's on our Saviour's 
 argument froni David, by the Holy Ghost, calling the Messiah his 
 Lord, that he * always takes it for granted, in his arguments with the 
 * Jews, that the writers of the Old Testament were under such an ex- 
 ' traordinary guidance of the Holy Spirit as to ex-press themselves 
 ' with the strictest propriety on all ocsasions.' On Matt. ix. 45. 
 
211 
 
 ' may be in divers cases life by virtue of inward 
 ' baptism, even where outward is not found/ * 
 
 But if spiritual regeneration in many cases 
 precede baptism, how is it pretended, that ' by 
 'baptism exclusively' is regeneration conveyed, 
 and that ' no other than baptismal regeneratioo 
 
 * is possible in this world ?' 
 
 I claim no merit of novelty for this argument. 
 It has been often urged before ; and I shall here 
 repeat it from a work to which frequent reference 
 has been already made. 
 
 ' Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ 
 
 * is born of God ; and every one that loveth him 
 ' that begat i loveth him also that is begotten 
 
 * of him. Now if every true believer in Christ 
 ' has been born of God, and if none, as adults^ 
 
 * are properly admissible to baptism, except those 
 
 * who profess faith in Christ ; and none, as adults^ 
 
 * receive baptism aright, except true believers : 
 ' then it inevitably follows, that all' such persona 
 ' in the primitive church, and all in every age, 
 ' who rightly have received baptism, have been 
 ' previously born of God. He that believeth, and 
 
 * is baptized, shall be saved. What doth hinder 
 
 * me to be baptized? If thou believest with all 
 
 * Eccles. Pol. B. V. § 60. Vol. ii. p. 347, 250, Oxf. Ed. 
 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 * thy heart, thou mayest : and he ansxvered and 
 ' said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of 
 ' God: — and he baptized him. Is it not clear, 
 
 * from the apostle's assertion. Every one that be- 
 ' lieveth that Jesus is the Christy has been born 
 
 * of Godf that reg'eneration preceded baptism, in 
 ' respect of this Ethiopian ? And is it not equally 
 
 * clear, that it does so, in the case of all, who re- 
 ' ceive baptism, on a sincere profession of faith in 
 ' the Lord Jesus ? How then can baptism be re- 
 ' generation ; or be uniformly connected with 
 ' it.* * 
 
 * Scott's Remarks, &c. vol. i. p. 199. 
 
213 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 On the Importance of the Question at issue, and 
 the practical Tendency of Mr. Manfs Doc- 
 trine. — The Author s Conclusions concerning 
 the Effect of Baptism. 
 
 Considering how far Mr. M. sometimes 
 carries his concessions, concerning ' the privi- 
 ' leges of the new birth being forfeited ' by those 
 who do not ' grow up in faith and obedience;'* 
 and concerning the necessity of a change of 
 heart and character in ' every one who is satis- 
 ' fied with mere nominal Christian ity, or with 
 
 * any thing short of true Christian holiness of 
 
 * heart and life ;' f some may be ready to con- 
 clude, that we are at issue chiefly about the 
 meaning and use of a word. I cannot, how- 
 ever, admit that this is the case ; nor will Mr. M. 
 himself admit it. % 
 
 We have seen that he considers all, to whom 
 baptism is ' rightly administered/ as having ' a 
 
 * new principle put into them,' even ' the Spirit 
 ' of grace,' which ' makes them heirs of salva- 
 
 * P. 11, 20/46, 47. t P- 60, 65, 22. J See p. 48. 
 
214 
 
 *'tion,' and * entitles them to eternal life.' And 
 so far, at least, he is a believer in * indefectible 
 
 * grace/ as to hold, that what is thus given can 
 never be withdrawn, and need to be communi- 
 cated anew ; * though ' the privileges ' attached 
 to it may be ' forfeited.' 
 
 But this is not all. Simply on the ground of 
 their baptism, he applies, to professed Chris- 
 tians, at large, scriptural terras, expressive, one 
 would imagine, of the highest and most spiritual 
 privileges. He speaks of them, without limita- 
 tion, as entitled to ' be Jilled with all joy and 
 ' peace in believing that they partake ' of the 
 
 * new birth.' f He contends, that such language 
 as that of St. Peter, " Blessed be the God and 
 <' Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, ac- 
 cording to his abundant mercy, hath begotten 
 us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection 
 
 *' of Jesus Christ from the dead ;" and that, 
 again, of St. John, " Beloved, now are we the 
 ^' sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what 
 " we shall be ; but we know that, when he shall 
 " appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see 
 " him as he is:" was applied to the ' immense 
 ' societies of Christians, scattered throughout the 
 ♦ east,* solely on this ground, that ' their regene- 
 ' ration was the effect of an ordinance, (baptism,) 
 
 ♦ P. 49. t P. 24. 
 
 
215 
 
 * of which all Christians in general partake/ * 
 Consequently these passages must be applicable 
 to all baptized persons now. He puts into the 
 mouth of a supposed character, of whose moral 
 habits not a word is said by way of qualification, 
 the following language, as what he might with- 
 out impropriety employ, in describing the views 
 he had been taught to entertain of his own situ- 
 ation : * When an infant, I was baptized accord- 
 ' ing to the order of the national church ; and the 
 ' minister pronounced by her directions, that I 
 ' was regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and re- 
 ' ceived by our most merciful Father as his own 
 ' child by adoption. As soon as I was able to 
 
 * learn, I was taught what a great blessing was 
 
 * then conferred upon me ; and that by having 
 ' been admitted to baptism, I had been made the 
 ' child of God, and had undergone a death unto 
 
 * sin and a new birth unto righteousness. When 
 ' I had been sufficiently instructed to be con- 
 ' firmed by the bishop^ I heard from him a re- 
 ' petition of the comfortable assurance, that God 
 
 * had vouchsafed to regenerate me by water and 
 ' the Holy Ghost, and to give me forgiveness of 
 
 * all my sins.f And I have since periodically 
 
 * P. 35. 
 
 f It will be observed, that all this is here rehearsed without one 
 word of the vows and professions which precede it, and are mixed 
 up with it, as it stands in the services of the church. Thus torn 
 from its connexion and dependencies, it no longer represents the 
 
216 
 
 'joined with my brother Christians, in making- 
 ' our grateful acknowledgments to Almighty 
 ' God, for being regenerate and made his children 
 ' by adoption and grace.' * He goes on to sup- 
 pose such a person, concerning whose character, 
 dispositions, and conduct, he has not given a single 
 intimation, to have been authorized by the church 
 to consider himself as ' a Christian,' ' a child of 
 ' God/ and ' in the way of salvation.' In an- 
 other place he also affirms, that to. suppose ' in 
 ' every Christian congregation there are two 
 
 doctrine of the church, however it may convey Mr. M.'s sentiments. 
 — Can any thing be more direct antinomianism than to assure a 
 person ' now come to the yeai'S of discretion,' merely on the ground 
 of his baptism, received in infancy, that God ' hath given him for- 
 ' giveness of all his sins ?' Not merely did forgive him his ' original 
 ' sin ' at baptism, but hath forgiven him all his sins up to the present 
 time ! This might be a very ' comfortable assurance,' but is it so 
 certain, that it would be very safe, either to the giver or the re- 
 ceiver ? 
 
 * P. 49. Mr. M. supposes his imagined character, having been 
 subsequently ' seduced from the words of truth and soberness ' by 
 the preachers of ' the modern new birth,' to proceed : ' What can I 
 ' think of such a church ? Can I regard her as a pillar and ground of 
 
 * the truth } Can I reverence her, who so grossly deluded me by 
 
 * a visionary regeneration, and threw an impenetrable veil over that 
 
 * which alone is effectual ? who taught me to think that I was in the 
 
 * way of salvation, when I had not yet passed the threshold ? who 
 
 * made me believe I was a child of God, when I was still a child of 
 ' the devil ? who treated me as a Christian, when I was nothing but 
 ' a baptized heathen V The answer to be returned to a person, de- 
 claiming in this way, is very obvious. It is no other than this : ' Sir, 
 you liave entirely misunderstood the church, by adopting Mr. 
 Mant's interpretation of her formularies, instead of studying her ar- 
 ticles, her homilies, and the whole of her liturgy taken together.' 
 
 4 • • 
 
217 
 
 * sorts of people^ some that know Christ, and 
 ' some that do not know him ; some that are 
 ' converted, and some that are strangers to 
 'conversion;' — is ^ a conceit which revelation 
 
 * warrants not, and which reason and experience 
 
 * disclaim.' * 
 
 Our succeeding chapter (which will be em- 
 ployed on Mr. M.'s second tract, on conversion,) 
 will bring further evidence of this kind before us. 
 But already, I apprehend, enough has been ad- 
 duced to evince, that it is no mere dispute of 
 words in which we are engaged. With Mr. M. 
 I exclaim, ' Far indeed, very far from it !' f I 
 take my stand, in this entire argument, as plead- 
 ing the cause of holiness and practical religion, 
 against an error which threatens the subversion 
 of both. I contend, if not against " a faith 
 " without works," yet against a regeneration 
 without effects. Very seldom, I fear, is the re- 
 generation, of which we now hear so much, 
 seen to exert any salutary influence on the heart 
 and life : but whether it do or not, men, it 
 seems, are to be taught to place great practical 
 reliance upon it. Yet what can be more gross 
 antinomianism, than io rely upon a religious 
 distinction, which is unaccompanied with the 
 purification of the heart and conduct ? 
 
 * P. 60, 61, 68. t P. 48. / 
 
218 
 
 But shall I be told that Mr. M. pleads for no 
 such thing ? With his intentions I have nothing 
 to do : but for what he has in fact done, I ap- 
 peal to all which I have just cited from him. 
 He authorizes a man, merely on the ground of 
 his baptism, and without a single supposition 
 made concerning his present conduct, to consi- 
 der himself as ' having been made a child of 
 
 * God, and having undergone a death unto sin, 
 
 * and a new birth unto righteousness :' as '^ having 
 ' heard the comfoi^tahle assurance, that God had 
 ' vouchsafed to regenerate him by water and the 
 ' Holy Ghost, and to give him forgiveiiess of 
 
 * all his sins ;' and as warranted to ' bejilled with 
 
 * all Joy a7id peace in believing that he partakes * 
 of that change, ' of which our Saviour speaks 
 
 * in such lofty language ' in the third chapter of 
 St. John. And I cannot consider Mr. M.'s doc- 
 trine otherwise than as having a strong and di- 
 rect tendency, to encourage men to take all this 
 
 * comfortable assurance ' to themselves, not hy- 
 pothetically, — certain suppositions being made 
 concerning their character and conduct — as our 
 church allows them to do, but unconditionally 
 and unreservedly. 
 
 I appeal, further, to other passages of his 
 work. Baptismal regeneration, he says, * makes 
 ^ us heirs of salvation/ and * entitles us to eternal 
 
219 
 
 ' life/ ' We argue for baptism being the vehicle 
 
 * of regeneration, because it is the vehicle of 
 
 * SALVATION.'* Not onlj SO : without one ex- 
 ception or limitation^ he says of baptism, ' or- 
 ' dained as it was by Christ himself, with a pro- 
 
 * mise of salvation annexed to its legiti- 
 ' MATE administration. *f Christ's promiscs are all 
 surCj and indubitably true : not one of them shall 
 fail of being fulfilled in its season. If, therefore, 
 he has ' annexed a promise of salvation to the 
 ' legitimate administration of baptism/ all who 
 have been ' legitimately baptized ' must infallibly 
 be saved. — I know that Mr. M. does not own 
 such a conclusion:;]; but will not his words teach 
 men to draw it ? and does it not unavoidably 
 follow from them ? — One would surely have 
 thought it impossible, for a learned protestant 
 divinCj in the nineteenth century, delivering 
 theological lectures in one of the first universi- 
 ties in Christendom, to use language, so unmea- 
 suredj so unwarrantable ! and still more so, for 
 a society, which may almost boast itself The So- 
 ciety of the Church of England, to adopt the 
 lecture, and circulate it through the kingdom, 
 
 * to convey correct notions ' to ' the community 
 
 * at large ! ' § 
 
 * P. 35. t P- 51. t P- 21* 
 
 § It is to be recollected, that seldom can those persons, who occupy 
 high stations in such societies, take a very active part in the proceed- 
 ings. Generally the business is transacted by a few individuals, who 
 happen to be on the spot. 
 
220 
 
 To treat the subject with unmixed seriousness. 
 Should such doctrines as these come to be pre- 
 valent; should they at all generally be heard 
 from our pulpits ; should they be embraced by 
 ' the community at large ;' it would be in vain 
 for us to think of counteractina: their antinoraian 
 tendency, by a few cautions against forfeiting 
 ' the privileges ' of that regenerate state, which, 
 it would appear, is itself so irrevocable, that no 
 further regeneration is ' necessary, or expedient, 
 ' or possible.' * A speculative man may try to 
 persuade himself that Mr. M.'s restrictions of this 
 kind render his doctrine harmless ; but the great 
 practical question is, How will it impress the 
 mass of * the community,' among whom it is to 
 be disseminated ? For a time his cautions and 
 limitations may seem to bear some tolerable pro- 
 portion to his broad positions of a contrary na- 
 ture : because the former fall in with all that we 
 have been used to, and with the suggestions of 
 that conscience, which God has implanted in the 
 breast of man ; while we hesitate at the latter 
 as novel, and almost incredible; and conclude 
 that they are to be received in a qualified sense, 
 even' where it is not so expressed. There may 
 have been health enough infused into the consti- 
 tution from other sources, to enable it to resist 
 the poison for a time. But, in the lapse of a 
 few years, if such instructions become common, 
 
 * Mant, p. 49. 
 
221 
 
 the case will be altered. The cautions and li- 
 mitations will gradually fall into oblivion, while 
 the broad assertions, and obvious but dangerous 
 inferences from them, may fix themselves in the 
 memory^ become principles in the heart, and 
 govern the life. 
 
 And it is not only from Mr. M.'s writings that 
 such danger is to be apprehended. In another 
 work, to give all possible effect to which no pains 
 have been spared, we meet with such statements 
 as follow : ' Those who are baptized are imme- 
 ' diately translated from the curse of Adam to 
 
 * the grace of Christ ; the original guilt which 
 ' they brought into the world is mystically washed 
 ' away ; and they receive forgiveness of the actual 
 ' sins which they may themselves have committed ; 
 ' they become reconciled to God, partakers of 
 ' the Holy Ghost, and heirs of eternal happiness ; 
 ' they acquire a new name, a new hope, a new 
 
 * faith, a new rule of life. This great and won- 
 ' derful change in the condition of man is as it 
 ' were a new nature, a new state of existence; 
 ' and the holy rite, by which these invaluable 
 ' blessing^s are communicated, is by St. Paul figur- 
 
 * atively called regeneration, or new-birth. Many 
 ' similar phrases occur in the New Testament, 
 ' such as born of zvater and of the Spirit ; be- 
 ' gotten again unto a lively hope ; dead in sins. 
 
222 
 
 ^ and quickened together with Christ; buried 
 ' with Christ in baptism ; born again, not of 
 ' corruptible seed, but of incorruptible : these ex- 
 
 * pressions all relate to a single act once perforra- 
 ' ed upon every individual — an act essential to 
 
 * the character of a Christian^ and of such impor- 
 ' tance, that it is declared to be instrumental to 
 ' our ' salvation.' ' * 
 
 What is the tendency of such doctrine as this ? 
 What, but to reduce the scriptures to a mere 
 caput mortuum, a mere dead, inefficient mass ? 
 to strip them of whatever in their contents was 
 most suited to arrest the attention, to awaken the 
 conscience, to interest the feelings, to stimulate 
 the hopes and fears of mankind. Numberless pas- 
 sageS:, it seems, which the Christian world has 
 been used to consider as most solemnly descrip- 
 tive of the character and condition of those, who 
 are in the way to be saved, as contradistinguished 
 to those who are yet " dead in their sins," are 
 henceforth to be understood of nothing but what 
 is tommon to us all ! They ' all relate to a 
 ' single act once performed upon every indivi- 
 
 * dual/ namely, at his baptism ! 
 
 All these high things, be it observed, are said 
 to be effected not only upon infants, when they 
 
 * Refutation of Calvinism, p. 83> 84. 
 
 6 
 
223 
 
 are baptized, but upon any person receiving bap- 
 tism; as is manifest (if proof were necessary) 
 from the clause, ' they receive forgiveness of the 
 ' actual sins which they may themselves have 
 ' committed.* Yet not a word is said of the ne- 
 cessity of ' repentance and faith' accompanying 
 the reception of the sacrament ! 
 
 But how is it possible, that the promulgators 
 of such doctrines can fail to be struck with a 
 consideration of the following kind ? In the 
 country, in which we live, though the great 
 majority are baptized in their infancy, yet there 
 is a competent number of persons who are not. 
 We have many quakers, and many anti-paedobap- 
 tists among us, whose children uniformly grow up 
 without baptism. Now as baptism makes so 'great 
 
 * and wonderful a change ' in those who receive 
 it, that they ' are immediately translated from the 
 
 * curse of Adam to the grace of Christ ; . . . be- 
 ' come reconciled to God, partakers of the Holy 
 
 * Ghost, and heirs of eternal happiness ; acquire 
 
 * a new name, a new hope, a new faith, a new 
 
 * rule of life,' nay ' a new nature, a new state 
 
 * of existence :' we may naturally expect to trace 
 a striking practical difference, as they grow up, 
 between the mass of those young persons who 
 have been baptized in their infancy, and those 
 who have not. We may expect to see the former 
 
224 
 
 class, if not uniformly, yet very commonly, 
 make it manifest, by the virtues of "' the new 
 " man," that they are in ' the grace of Christ, 
 ' partakers of the Holy Ghost,' possessed of ' a 
 ' new nature, heirs of eternal happiness,' The 
 latter, (awful spectacle ! ) it may be anticipated, 
 will uniformly, or almost uniformly, shew them- 
 selves, by the prevalence of wicked tempers and 
 habits, to be under ' the curse, unreconciled to 
 * God,' destitute of ' the Holy Spirit,' and of 
 ' the hope, the faith, the new state of existence,' 
 which characterize the others. 
 
 But now, in point of fact, is any such striking 
 difference of character to be generally or fre- 
 quently traced between our children, who are 
 baptized, and those children of dissenters, who 
 grow up without baptism ? Does any marked 
 distinction between them appear, which we are 
 warranted to ascribe to the enjoyment of bap- 
 tism among one party, or the want of it in the 
 other ? Or is it consistent with the avowed prin- 
 ciples of scripture to believe, that, among a 
 number of persons, some are '^ children of 
 '' wrath," and the others ' children of grace,' 
 and ' heirs of eternal happiness,' while no per- 
 ceptible difference can be pointed out in their 
 spirit and character ? Is this agreeable to the 
 maxim, " In Christ Jesus neither circumcision 
 
22^ 
 
 '•' availeth any thing, nor uncircumcisionj but a 
 " new creature," — but " faith which worketh 
 '* by love ?" Is this exhibiting God as " no re- 
 " specter of persons ?" Or rather is not this fall- 
 ing precisely into the errors which proved fatal 
 to the Jews ? * 
 
 * The observation may possibly have reached Mr. M.'s ears, that 
 his doctrine respecting one sacrament a good deal resembles that of 
 the papists respecting the other, or indeed respecting both. And 
 the groimds of this observation may now appear. They are twofold. 
 First, as transubstantiation requires us to believe contrary to the evi- 
 dence of our senses, so this doctrine, concerning ' the great and 
 
 * wonderful change ' produced in the very ' nature ' of those who are 
 baptized, requires us to believe contrary to experience : and in both, 
 cases, the demand seems to be made upon us equally without au- 
 thority of scripture. Take two pieces of the wafer, the one conse- 
 crated, the other not. Examine them : you find no ditference : yet 
 you are to believe that one is bread, the other flesh and blood ! In 
 like manner, take two young persons, one baptized, the other not : 
 you catechize, and you observe them: you find, it is very likely, no 
 difference in their knowledge, their spirit, their conduct : yet you are 
 to believe the one ' transferred from the curse of Adam to the grace 
 
 * of Christ — reconciled to God — of a new nature ;' for he is bap- 
 tized : the other, the reverse of all this ; for he is unbaptized ! — 
 The second ground is, that, if this doctrine be thyoughly re- 
 ceived, we, who bear the priestly office, certainly need not despair 
 of regaining that supreme influence, which was possessed by our 
 predecessors, before their power to open or shut the kingdom of 
 heaven, at pleasure, by giving or withholding the sacraments, fell into 
 discredit. 
 
 It is, further, natural to remark, that, if it be in the power of bap- 
 tism to do so much for us, as the last and some other quotations re- 
 present, it is surely to be regi'etted that the practice, once prevalent, 
 has not been retained, of deferring baptism till the very article of 
 death, that the receiver of such inestimable benefits may not be al- 
 lowed the opportunity of forfeiting them again ! 
 
226 
 
 To extinguish all true and spiritual * religion 
 amongst us ; to reduce Christianity to a system 
 of external distinctions ; and to substitute for its 
 humble, holy, vital spirit, that compound of self- 
 righteous pride and antinomian licentiousness, 
 which characterized the Jewish church, in its 
 last and worst days; is, to my apprehension, the 
 direct tendency of such doctrines as we are con- 
 templating. 
 
 The Jewish church, — let me impress the senti- 
 ment upon the members of an establishment, 
 whose welfare I have deeply at heart, — the Jewish 
 church stands a beacon to us, to warn us against 
 the fatal tendency of a false confidence, like that 
 which these doctrines tend to generate in us. 
 The Jews were ever ready to exclaim, '' The tem- 
 *' pie of the Lord, the temple of the Lord " are 
 we ! *" We are the church, the true church of 
 God, his children, and the exclusive heirs of 
 his kingdom ! ' They confided in being " the 
 "^ descendents of Abraham,*' admitted into co- 
 venant with God by circumcision, as we are by 
 baptism. In this confidence they esteemed them- 
 selves secure : and fell into the neglect of that 
 '^ righteousness and true holiness," to which all 
 their privileges and distinctions were intended to 
 Jead them. 
 
 * 1 John iv. 23, 24. 
 
227 
 
 Against such false confidence their prophets 
 of old had frequently warned them. But when 
 the forerunner of the Messiah, and when, shortly 
 after, the Messiah himself and his apostles ap- 
 peared, thejj with united voice, exerted all their 
 energies against it. " Repent ye," they ex- 
 claimed, " for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 " hand. Bring forth fruits meet for repentance, 
 " and think not to say within yourselves, We 
 " have Abraham to our father, for I say unto 
 " you, that God is able even of these stones to 
 *' raise up children unto Abraham. And now 
 " also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees ; 
 *' therefore every tree which bringeth not forth 
 '' good fruit is hewn down and cast into the 
 *' fire." " There cometh one after me," cried 
 the holy Baptist, " who is mightier than I, 
 *' whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly 
 " purge his floor, and gather the wheat into his 
 *' garner, but he will burn up the chaff with un- 
 " quenchable fire." '^'^I say unto you," proclaimed 
 our blessed Lord himself, " that many shall come 
 ** from the east, and west, and shall sit down 
 with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the 
 kingdom of heaven ; but the children of 
 " THE KINGDOM " — those who thought thcmselvcs 
 such — "shall be cast out into outer darkness, there 
 '' shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."* 
 
 * See Matt. iii. and viii. 
 Q 2 
 
 
228 
 
 The discourse to Nicodemus is in the same 
 strain. In opposition to the Jewish confidence 
 in a lineal descent from Abraham, it declares to 
 them, that Jews as well as gentiles must be 
 " born again," or they could never see the king- 
 dom of God. 
 
 And, to name no more, St. Paul, in the epistle 
 to the Romans, lays down the principle, that 
 *' not all are Israel which are of Israel :' and 
 proclaims, in language, to which we have on a 
 former occasion bespoken attention, " He is not 
 '' a Jew which is one outw ardly, neither is that 
 '' circumcision which is outward in the flesh : 
 " but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and 
 " circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, 
 " and not in the letter ; whose praise is not of 
 " men, but of God.* " And, as he had lived to 
 witness the fatal consequences of his country- 
 men's neglecting all the warnings which had 
 been given them, and persisting in their errors, 
 to the rejection of him who would have re- 
 deemed them, he most passionately deplores the 
 event, declaring himself ready to have endured 
 any evils which might have been a means of 
 preventing it. 
 
 Far be it from me to insinuate that Mr. M. 
 
 * Rom. ii, ix, &c. 
 
229 
 
 would willingly produce a false confidence, and 
 an unrighteousness of life, like those of the Jews: 
 I believe the very contrary: and I forget not the 
 cautions which he puts in against such a con- 
 struction. But I am not concerned with his inten- 
 tions, butj in the first place, with the foundation 
 which there may be for his doctrine in scripture, 
 and, that having been shewn to be none at all,v/ith 
 its tendency, and the practical efiects which are 
 likely to flow from its prevalence amongst us : 
 and these I do solemnly apprehend to be of the 
 worst possible kind. 
 
 / Before we finally quit the consideration of 
 baptism and its effects, it may, perhaps, be ex- 
 pected, that I should state, what is the result of 
 my inquiries, and what the conclusions I come to 
 upon the subject. And this I do for my own 
 satisfaction, as well as that of the reader. 
 
 1. With respect to persons come to years of 
 discretion, I fully concur with Bishop Burnet, 
 that the external act of baptism, apart from 
 right dispositions in the receiver, does no more 
 than admit to external privileges. God may, 
 indeed, make the administration of baptism the 
 
230 
 
 means of " quickening the soul," that came to 
 it " dead in trespasses and sins:" but this is a 
 more ' sudden conversion,' than we are in ordi- 
 nary cases warranted to expect. 
 
 2. In those who ' receive baptism rightly,' I 
 believe, with our twenty-seventh article, the in- 
 ward blessing communicated to them to be * the 
 ' confirmation of faith, and increase of grace * 
 already received. Regeneration;, strictly taken, 
 in the sense of the infusion of ^ a new principle 
 ' of life and of action,' * or, as Hooker's words 
 are, * the first disposition towards future newness 
 
 * of life,' cannot be received by these persons in 
 baptism, for they already have it before they are 
 baptized. They are partakers of ' repentance 
 " and faith,' and consequently possess the grace 
 of God before they come. All they need is, to 
 have these spiritual graces ' confirmed and in- 
 
 * creased : ' which they may confidently expect 
 in this sacrament, ' by virtue of prayer unto 
 
 * God/ 
 
 And with this latitude it is both natural and 
 necessary to understand ' the death unto sin and 
 ' new birth unto righteousness,' mentioned in 
 the catechism as ' the inward and spiritual grace' 
 of which baptism is ' a means,' as well as ' a 
 
 * Mant. 
 
231 
 
 * sign and a pledge/ There is no need to con- 
 fine the terms to the very first communication of 
 grace to the soul : and to suppose them so con- 
 fined in this placC;, would be to contradict both 
 the article, which assumes ' grace ' to have been 
 previously given, and the preceding sentences of 
 the catechism, which require ' repentance and 
 ' faith ' in persons to be baptized. 
 
 I add, further, that, as the article most pro- 
 perly states, persons receiving baptism rightly 
 have ' the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of 
 •^ their adoption to be the sons of God by the 
 
 * Holy Ghost, thereby visibly signed and sealed:* 
 all which must greatly conduce to their comfort 
 and the confirmation of their faith. — As internal 
 sanctification is the real seal and attestation of 
 our acceptance with God; so baptism, which re- 
 presents sanctification, is the outward and visible 
 attestation of it, which is given by the church, 
 and ratified in heaven when given to a proper 
 subject.* 
 
 * So, under the old dispensation, circumcision represented the 
 mortification of sin, or sanctification ; but it was, " the seal of the 
 " righteousness of faith," that is, of justification. Rom. iv, 11. 
 
 This view of the subject will explain the clause in the Nicene 
 creed—' one baptism for the remission of sins :' the prayer in the 
 baptismal service, for ' remission of sins by spiritual regeneration :' 
 and the expression — ' after that we are baptized or justified ' — which 
 occurs in the Homily of Salvation. Baptism ' visibly signs and seals ' 
 
232 
 
 3. With respect to infants : baptism admits 
 them into the visible church, and so far is cer- 
 tainly a relative sanctification or regeneration of 
 them. But, as to their regeneration in a higher 
 sense of the word, this, like that of adults, can 
 be declared of them only hypothetically. In the 
 one case, sincerity in the professions made, and, 
 in the other, a disposition to fulfil their baptismal 
 vows as they become capable of doing it, must 
 be assumed, as the basis of the declaration. The 
 event of th^'ir conduct must determine, both in 
 one case and the other, whether the persons 
 baptized have received ' the sanctification of the 
 
 to us forgiveness, justification, adoption, and otiier blessings con- 
 sequent upon these. 
 
 Xhis further illustrates some passages of scripture, which have be- 
 fore engaged our notice. Acts ii. 38 : " llepent, and be baptized every 
 " one of yon in the name of Jesus Christ, ybr the 7'cmission of sins." 
 Acts xxii. 16 : " Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, 
 " callmg on the name of the Lord." — By baptism they would re- 
 ceive from the church the appointed attestation, that their sins were 
 forgiven them for Christ's name sake : an attestation which was rati- 
 fied in heaven, provided only they were sincere in their professions 
 made in baptism. 
 
 ' Baptism, wheresoever it was received with all quaVifications ne- 
 ' cessary in the person accepting, and conferred with all things ne- 
 
 * cessary to be performed by the person administering, was most in- 
 
 * fallibly efEcacious, as to this particular, that is, to the remission of 
 
 * all sins committed before the administration of this sacrament.' 
 Pearson on the Creed, Art. x. 
 
 I find, that, in what I have written on the Articles, T have omitted 
 to notice the expression, that they are * effectual signs of grace,' 
 Art. XXV, It needs no other remark, than that the article proceeds 
 tp tell us to whom they are effectual, 
 
233 
 
 * Spirit ' — 'a new principle of life and of action ^ 
 ■;— or not. 
 
 That even infants are capable of receiving 
 from God such a disposition^ as I have sup- 
 posed, seems to me as clear, as that they may and 
 do, by nature, possess a contrary disposition. 
 And that almighty God may be pleased, in many 
 instances, to communicate such grace, especially 
 to the children of pious parents, presented to 
 baptism with devout and fervent prayers, I can 
 readily hope and believe. 
 
 If, after all, any persons complain, lliat this 
 is reducing the effect of baptism to narrow 
 limits, as to the most of those to whom the or- 
 dinance is administered ; I reply, that their 
 thinking so may be ascribed to their having en- 
 tertained unreasonably high ideas of the efficacy 
 of this sacrament — much higher, probably, than 
 they entertain of the efficacy of the other sacra- 
 ment. I refer them, also, to the beginning of 
 the third chapter of the epistle to the Romans, 
 where the apostle answers the same objection 
 brought against his doctrine concerning circum- 
 cision. And I caution every one against re- 
 puting it a small privilege, to have been ' called 
 ' to a state of salvation,' by being received into 
 the visible church of Christ; placed under 
 
 4 
 
234 
 
 Christian instruction ; numbered among those 
 " to whom the oracles of God are committed/' * 
 and addressed, on whom all Christian duties are 
 binding, and to whom all Christian privileges 
 are specially offered. ' Whosoever/ says Bishop 
 Hopkins, ' are partakers of baptism are reckoned 
 ' visible members of the churchy and have an in- 
 ' terest in all the prayers of the saints,, for their 
 ' brethren on earth. And this ought^ by every 
 
 * sober Christian, to be esteemed a great benefit, 
 ' that his children, by their being baptized, are 
 
 * wrapped up in the prayers of all the saints 
 
 * throughout the world, and so daily presented 
 ' to God, though to them unknown.' 
 
 I add the following remarks from works al- 
 ready before the public, without venturing to 
 pronounce any very confident opinion on the 
 point to which they relate. 
 
 * A large proportion * of the clergy called 
 evangelical ' do suppose, that some special gra- 
 
 * " What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is ther« 
 •" of circumcision ? Much every way : chiefly because that unto them 
 *' were committed the oracles of GodJ* Rom. iii. 1, 2. 
 
 So again it was represented as a great privilege of the Jews, that 
 they were " the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which 
 " God made with their fathers, spying unto Abraham," &c., though 
 it was not supposed that they were, without their own personal re- 
 pentance and faith, interested in the spiritual blessings of that cove- 
 nant. Act« iii. SO. 
 
235 
 
 * cious effect attends the due administration of 
 ' infant-baptism/ * beyond the mere admission 
 of the children to the privileges of church-mem- 
 bership. 
 
 ' This is certainly our own sentiment : We 
 ' find no difficulty whatever, in considering the 
 ' baptismal rite as an assurance and pledge, 
 
 * on the part of God, that the person hereby 
 
 * admitted into personal covenant with him 
 
 * through the second Adam, shall not perish 
 ' through the fault of the first. ' f 
 
 * Scott's Remarks, &c. vol. ii. p. 212. 
 t Christian Observer, 1812, p. 370. 
 
236 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 On Mr. Mant's second Tr^act, on Conversion. 
 
 \J¥ Mr. M.'s second tract a much more cursory 
 notice may be sufficient. He here pretty clearly 
 marks the distinction between the several parties 
 on whom he animadverts : and a large proportion 
 of his tract is employed on extravagancies, with 
 which I have no concern but to deplore them. 
 
 Justice, however, w'ould seem to require, that, 
 while the faults and errors of men, who, like 
 Whitfield and Wesley, effected great good, 
 though they have produced also much evil, 
 were exposed, some notice should be taken of 
 their public acknowledgments of those errors and 
 faults. As this has not been done by Mr. M., 
 I shall transcribe a few sentences upon the subject, 
 from a work, to which no candid person, who 
 has a competent acquaintance with its contents, 
 will refuse to listen on this occasion. 
 
 ' It is enough briefly to say, that, although the 
 f languageofWhitefield and Wesley, upon divine 
 
237 
 
 ' communications, occasionally merits the seve- 
 ' rity of Mr. M.'s censure ; yet perhaps some 
 
 * little tenderness might have been shewn to men 
 ' who had finally and nobly avowed their fault— 
 ' had confessed that the impressions they had 
 ' mistaken for divine influence, had often " pro- 
 ' ceeded from the state and disposition of the 
 'body" — *' were genuine instances of enthu- 
 
 * siam," were " vain and blasphemous conceits." 
 
 * How few men, idolized like Whitefield, would 
 
 * have degraded themselves to plead guilty in such 
 
 * language as the following : " I came soon into 
 
 * the world, I have carried high sail whilst run- 
 ' ning through a torrent of popularity and con- 
 
 * tempt, and by this means have sometimes been 
 ' in danger of oversetting. I know that I am a 
 ' man of like passions with others, and conse- 
 
 * quently may have mistaken nature for grace, 
 ' imagination fOr revelation, and the fire of my 
 ' own temper for the pure and sacred flame of 
 ' holy zeal, which cometh from God's altar. 
 
 * Alas, alas ! in how many things have I acted 
 _' wrong ! I have been too rash and hasty in giving 
 
 * characters both of places and persons. I have 
 
 * too much made impressions, without the written 
 
 * word, my rule of action. Being fond of scrip- 
 ' ture language, I have often used a style too 
 ^ apostolical, and at the same time I have been 
 
 * too bitter in mv zeal. Wild fire has been 
 
^38 
 
 ' mixed with it, and I find I have frequently 
 ' written and spoken in my own spirit, when I 
 • thought I was writing and speaking entirely by 
 ' the assistance of the Spirit of God." Many 
 ' have been weak enough to transgress with 
 ' Whitefield^ but few great enough to offer such 
 ' an atonement for their faults.' * 
 
 And again^ with respect to instantaneous con- 
 version, ' it would be ungenerous to forget that 
 ' Wesley and Whitefield both made a living 
 ' avowal of their errors also upon this subject — 
 ' that they made it to thousands, upon whom 
 ^ they might almost have imposed what senti- 
 ' ments they pleased — that they made it in the 
 ' face of implacable enemies — that they made it 
 ' amid scenes of unparalleled success, when they 
 ' sometimes preached to twenty thousand auditors, 
 ' and when one half of these were either dis- 
 ' solved in tears, or otherwise violently agitated, 
 ' Such an avowal might, in any court of equity, 
 ' be pleaded, and would be received in mitigation 
 ' of punishment.' f 
 
 Had Mr. M.'s attack, then, been confined to 
 
 * the founders of methodism,' I had left it to 
 others to repel it. Or had ' sudden and in- 
 
 * stanteous conversion ' been the only thing to 
 
 * Cliristian Obsen^er, 1813, p. 159, 160. f Ibid. p. 16<J, 
 
 « - 
 
£39 
 
 which he objected^ I had not undertaken its de- 
 fence, any further than to assert, that, as in an- 
 cient times the day of pentecost, and, in modern 
 times^ the case of Colonel Gardiner, demonstrate, 
 conversion may be sudden and yet effectual ; * 
 and, likewise, that if conversion be a '^ passing 
 " from death unto life," a ''^ quickening of those 
 " 'vho were dead in trespasses and sins," there 
 must be a moment when life commences, though, 
 perhaps, that moment is as much out of the 
 reach of human discovery with respect to spiritual, 
 as with respect to natural life. 
 
 * Mr. M. seems to concede as much himself, p. 73, 74. He says, 
 
 * Not that I would be understood to assert, that Providence may not 
 
 * perhaps, even in the present day, be sometimes pleased to inter- 
 
 * pose in a manner more awful and impressive, than is agreeable 
 
 * to the ordinary course of his proceedings, and to arrest the sinner 
 
 * in his career of infidelity or wickedness, and to turn him from 
 
 * darkness unto light. But it is the error of enthusiasm to invert 
 
 * the order of God's proceedings, and to mistake that for the rule, 
 
 * which in reality constitutes the exception.' To all this I fully 
 assent. 
 
 So also Dr. Paley, in his latter days, very beautifully : * I do not, 
 ' in the smallest degree, mean to undervalue, or speak lightly of such 
 ' changes, whenever or in whomsoever they take place ; nor to deny 
 ' that they may be sudden, yet lasting ; (nay, I am rather inclined to 
 
 * think, that it is in this manner that they fi-equently do take place ;) 
 nor to dispute what is upon good testimony alleged concerning con- 
 
 * version brought about by affecting incidents of life ; by striking 
 ' passages of scripture ; by impressive discourses from the pulpit ; 
 
 * by what we meet with in books, or even by single touching sen- 
 ' tences, or expressions in such discourses or books. I am not dis- 
 
 * posed to question these relations unnecessarily, but rather to bless 
 
 * God for such instances, when I hear of them, and to regard them 
 
 * as merciful ordinations of his providence,' 
 
 2 
 
240 
 
 Nor am I disposed to except against what Mr. 
 M.has delivered concerning the nature of conver- 
 sion. In his 6 5th page^ he assents to Mr. Overton's 
 statement^ that it consists in ' the actual refor- 
 ' mation of the heart and character ; that the 
 ' author of this happy change is the Holy Spirit, 
 ' but that it is generally effected, and is always 
 ' to be sought after, in the diligent use of the 
 
 * appointed means of grace : that it is no instan- 
 
 * taneous operation, which finishes the whole husl- 
 ' ness of religion at once, but that it is the serious 
 ' commencement of a work, which it requires the 
 
 * vigorous exertions of the whole life to complete.* 
 All this is excellent : nor is Mr. M.'s own de- 
 scription of it materially different. He says, 
 p. 57 , ' Conversion, according to our notions, 
 ' may not improperly be said to consist of a ra- 
 ' tional conviction of sin, and sense of its 
 'wretchedness and danger; of a sincere peni- 
 ' tence and sorrow of heart, at having incurred 
 'the displeasure of a holy God; of steadfast 
 ' purposes of amendment, with the blessing of the 
 ' divine grace; of a regular and diligent employ- 
 
 * ment of all the appointed means of grace; and of 
 '• a real change of heart and life, of affections 
 ' and conduct, and a resolute perseverance in 
 ' well doing.' This differs not, I think, from 
 the former passage, except it be, that it contains 
 not so explicit a recognition of the Holy Spirit. 
 
241 
 
 as the author of the ' rational conviction of sin/ 
 
 * the sincere penitence/ and ' the steadfast pur- 
 ' pose of amendment.' I take it for granted, 
 however, that Mr. M. meansit to be understood, 
 that all these ^ holj desires, good counsels, and 
 ' just works ' proceed from the operation of 
 God's Holy Spirit on the mind ; and also that a 
 deep and heart-afFecting '^ conviction of sin,' 
 such as we see exemplified at the day of pente- 
 cost, or in the penitent publican, is no more 
 than is perfectly ' rational.' These things being 
 understood, I am well content that Mr. M/s 
 description should be received as a just account 
 of conversion. 
 
 And, further, with respect to the proper sub- 
 jects of conversion, he is sometimes pretty liberal 
 in his concessiotas. In the primitive days he al- 
 lows that ' universally, both among Jews and 
 ' among gentiles, those who were living under 
 
 * the dominion of sin, or were not duly con- 
 ' vinced of the necessity of a Redeemer,' needed 
 to be * converted from their errors, whether in 
 'principle or in practice.'* And ^ now also,' 
 he says, ' every unbeliever and every sinner, al- 
 ' though made by baptism a member of Christ 
 ' and a child of God, must be, in a certain sense, 
 
 * converted, if he would ultimately succeed to 
 
 * p. 59, 60. 
 R 
 
242 
 
 ' his inheritance of the kingdom of heaven/ * 
 And so again, after reciting Mr. Overton's words, 
 as above quoted, he declares, ' considering con- 
 ' version in this light, I can cheerfully concur 
 ' with our bretbien in maintaining the necessity 
 ^ of such a change to every one, who is satisfied 
 ' with mere nominal Chynstianity, or with any 
 ' thing short of true Christian holiness both of 
 ' heart and life.'-f And yet again he admits, that 
 ' previous habits of irreligion and worldly-mind- 
 ' edness render it necessary/ f At the same time 
 he is of opinion, that we should do better to ' de- 
 ^ cline the phraseology of enthusiasm,' by calling 
 the change ' true repentance,' rather than con- 
 version. X Why he should so speak of the term 
 conversionj I feel rather at a loss to determine, 
 after having read, only a few p?ges before, his 
 description of ' conversion, according to the 
 ' notions ' entertained of it by himself and his 
 friends : and when, in the interval between the 
 two passages, he declares, from the late Bishop 
 Randolph, that '^in scripture w€ find conversion 
 ^ conjoined with repentance as one atid the 
 * same.' ^ 
 
 But now, after all this, what must we think of 
 8uch sentences as the following? ' We are not 
 ' told in scripture, as we are now imperiously 
 
 *P.60. tP-65. J P. 65, 66. § P. 64. 
 
 2 
 
243 
 
 ' called upon, to divide our hearers, being be- 
 
 * lievers in Christianity in common, into the 
 ' classes of converted and unconverted.' ' That 
 ' among men, baptized as Christians, taught from 
 
 * their infancy to believe the doctrines and prac- 
 ' tisethe duties of Christianity, a special conver- 
 
 * sion also at some period of their life is necessary 
 
 * to stamp them true Christians, is an unheard of 
 ' thing in the gospel, and is plainly a novel insti- 
 ' tution of man.' * 
 
 I fear this indicates, that Mr. M.'s objection^ 
 like that of too many persons who raise an outcry 
 against ' sudden conversions,' is not merely to the 
 suddenness or extravagance of some professed 
 conversions, but to conversion itself; at least, when 
 represented as a change necessary to turn even 
 those who ' profess and call themselves Christians/ 
 from what they are by nature, to what they must 
 be before they can be fit for heaven. 
 
 Here also we see the practical influence of Mr. 
 M.'s views of baptismal regeneration. The 
 change which it has produced in men seems to be 
 thought, of itself, a reason against preaching con- 
 version to them, even though they should have 
 ' forfeited their privileges' by a sinful life. 
 
 * P. 63, 64. 
 R 2 
 
* 244 
 
 But in the last passage much depends upon 
 the meaning of certain terms^ which are suffici- 
 ently lax and indefinite. What is meant, by 
 ' taught from their infancy to believe the doc- 
 ' trines and practise the duties of Christianity ? ' 
 Does it mean no more than instructed by man 
 that they ought to do so ? or, inwardly " taught" 
 and inclined to do it, by the grace of God, ac- 
 companying outward instruction ? If the latter, 
 then the persons have been and are converted, and 
 turned from a state of nature to a state of grace. 
 If the former, let all experience as well as scrip- 
 ture declare, whether outward instruction super- 
 sedes the necessity of a conversion by divine 
 grace, turning the heart from sin to God. 
 
 Again, what is meant by a ' special conver- 
 ^sion?* Does it mean a conversion of which 
 the person can distinctly specify the time, the 
 means, the manner, the beginning, and middle, 
 and end ? If so, I know none of ' our self-de- 
 * nominated evangelical brethren,' who insist 
 upon its necessity. We are happy to believe that 
 there are ' some humble Christians, who, having 
 ' been once regenerated by water and the Holy 
 ' Spirit, have so followed his heavenly motions,'* 
 that, though we should not think of saying of 
 them, somewbat quaintly, and not a little pre- 
 
 * Mant^p. 6L 
 
245 
 
 sumptuously, ' their angels may not blush to bC' 
 
 * hold the face of their heavenly Father ; ' * yet 
 we often do describe them as persons, whose con- 
 version ' began so early, and has proceeded so 
 gradually, that it exceeds the power of man pre- 
 cisely to trace its rise and progress.' But if ' a 
 ' special conversion* mean only a real, a great, a 
 radical, a divine change, then we certainly do 
 maintain, that it has passed, or must pass, upon 
 every man in order to his being a true Christian ? 
 
 But whatever ambiguities, leaving an opening 
 for more favourable interpretation, there may be 
 in these sentences, which are borrowed by Mr. 
 M., but borrowed with high commendation, I 
 am sorry to say there appears no such thing in 
 the following passage, for which Mr. M. himself 
 is answerable. ' To suppose,' with Whitefield, 
 ** that in every Christian congregation there are 
 ' two sorts of people, some that know Christ, and 
 
 * some that do not know him, some that are con- 
 
 * verted, and some that are strangers to conver- 
 
 * sion ;" — this is a conceit which revelation war- 
 ' rants not, and which reason and experience dis- 
 
 * claim.' f 
 
 It is really difficult to read this conclusion 
 without exclamations of astonishment. To say 
 
 * Mant,p. 61. f P. 60, 61. 
 
246 
 
 nothing of ^ revelation ' — nothing of our Lord's 
 solemn declaration to the Jews, " Ye say that he 
 " is jour God, but je have not known him : " — 
 nothing of St. Paul's admonition to the Corin- 
 thian church, " Some have not the hiowledge of 
 **^ God, I speak this to your shame : " — nothing 
 of St. John's rule for trying our ' knowledge of 
 ' Christ,' " Hereby do we know that we know 
 *' him, if we keep his commandments : " — not to 
 dwell on these, or a thousand other passages of 
 holy writ, I notice only the appeal to ' reason 
 '■ and experience,' which, it is affirmed, *^ disclaim' 
 as a vain ' conceit ' the supposition, that, ' in 
 ' every Christian congregation, there are some 
 ' that are converted, and some that are strangers 
 * to conversion.' 
 
 Of course, Mr. M. does not mean so far to take 
 advantage of the strictness of the term ' every 
 ' Christian congregation,' as to point out assem- 
 blies of literally "^ two or tree " pious individuals 
 "' met together in the name of Christ," as the ex- 
 ceptions. If that were his meaning, he would be 
 contending without an antagonist. He must 
 mean, that, at least, the better sort of Christian 
 congregations ought not to be considered as con- 
 taining unconverted persons. Restricted beyond 
 this, his censure will have no application. 
 
2^7 
 
 Take, then, his own descriptions of the cha- 
 racters who need to be converted. ' Every un- 
 
 * believer and everv sinner' — ' all those who are 
 ' living under the dominion of sin ' — ' those whose 
 ' previous habits of irreligion and worldly-mind- 
 
 * edness render it necessary ' — ' every one who is 
 ' satisfied with mere nominal Christianity, or with 
 ' any thing short of true Christian holiness of 
 ' heart and life : * — every such person, ' although 
 
 * made by baptism a member of Christ and a 
 ' child of God, must be, in a certain sense, con- 
 ' verted;, if he would ultimately succeed to his in- 
 ' heritance of the kingdom of heaven ; ' f and he 
 (Mr. M.) ' can cheerfully concur in maintaining 
 
 * the necessity of such a change,' as Mr. Overton 
 describes under the name of conversion, to all 
 these characters.;]] Yet ' reason and experience,' 
 he says, ' disclaim,' as an unwarranted ' conceit,* 
 the supposition, that ' our hearers ' are to be di- 
 vided ' into the two classes of converted and un- 
 ' converted ! '§ Were it not well-known, that 
 Mr. M, is ' Chaplain to his Grace the Archbishop 
 
 * of Canterbury, and Rector of a parish in the 
 metropolis, might one not have supposed him a 
 recluse, who had lived all his days immured in a 
 college, and was utterly unacquainted with the 
 state of the Christian world, nay, with all that was 
 passing in the university itself, beyond the pre- 
 
 *. P. 59, 60, 65. t P. 60. X P- 65. § P. 61, 65. 
 
248 
 
 cincts of his own room : — would it not be natu- 
 ral to suppose this, when we hear him allow, that 
 so many and so comprehensive descriptions of 
 persons need to be converted, and yet reprobate 
 the supposition that almost all Christian con- 
 gregations contain ' persons that are strangers to 
 ' conversion,' as well as those that are con- 
 verted ? * 
 
 * How much more rational, and wise, and right, as well as more 
 Scriptural, the following obsei-vations of Dr. Paley : — ' Of the persons 
 ' in our congregations, to whom we not only may, but must preach 
 ' the doctrine of conversion plainly and directly, are those, who, with 
 ' the name indeed of Christians, have hitherto passed their lives with- 
 
 * out any internal religion whatever ; who have not at all thought 
 ' upon the subject ; who, a few e^sy and customary forms excepted, 
 ' (and which w ith them are mere fomis,) camiot truly say of them- 
 
 * selves, that they have done one action, which they would not have 
 ' done equally, if there had been no such thing as a God in the world; 
 
 * or that they have ever sacrificed any passion, any present enjoy- 
 
 * ment, or even any inclination of their minds, to the restraints and 
 ' prohibitions of religion ; with whom indeed, religious motives have 
 
 * not weighed a feather in the scale against interest or pleasure.- To 
 ' these it is utterly necessary that we preach conversion. At this day 
 
 * we have not Jews and Gentiles to preach to ; but these persons are 
 ' really in as unconverted a state, as any Jew or Gentile could be in 
 ' our Saviouj-'s time. They are no more Christians, as to any actual 
 
 * benefit of Christianity to their souls, than the most hardened Jew, or 
 
 * the most profligate Gentile was in the age of the gospel. As to any 
 
 * difference in the two cases, the diffei;ence is all against them. These 
 ' must be converted, before they can be saved. The course of their 
 
 * thoughts must be changed, the very principles upon which they act 
 ' must be changed. Considerations, which never, or which hardly ever 
 ' entered into their minds, must deeply and perpetually engage them. 
 
 * Views and motives, which did not influence them at all, either as 
 ' checks from doing evil, or as inducements to do good, must become 
 
 * the views and motives which they regularly consult, and by which they 
 f are guided; that is to say, there must be a revolution of principle : 
 
249 
 
 But seriously, what a mockery is it of the feel-'^ 
 ings of a Christian minister, sincerely labouring 
 to turn sinners to righteousness, to tell him, that 
 he must by no means consider his congregation 
 as consisting partly of those who are converted, 
 and partly of those who are unconverted ! What 
 congregation is there, in which no drunkard, ho 
 swearer, no fornicator, no sabbath-breaker, no 
 unjust dealer, no covetous, ^ irreligious, worldly- 
 ' minded ' man is to be found ? in which there 
 are none who have been * satisfied with mere no- 
 
 * minal Christianity, or with something ' far ' short 
 ' of true Christian holiness of heart and life ? ' 
 And must not all these persons *' turn " and be 
 *' converted" unto God, if they would not '' die" 
 eternally ? Must they not " repent and be con- 
 '• verted," if they would have " their sins blotted 
 *' out ? " To what purpose, then, is it to interrupt 
 
 ' the visible conduct will follow the change ; but there must be a revo- 
 ' lution within. A change so entire, so deep, so important as this, I 
 ' do allow to be a conversion, and no one, who is, in the situation 
 ' above described, can be saved without undergoing it ; and he must 
 
 * necessarily both be sensible of it at the time, and remember it all 
 
 * his life afterwards. It is too momentous an event ever to be forgot. 
 
 * A man might as easily forget his escape from a shipwreck. Whe- 
 
 * ther it was sudden, or whether it was gradual, if it was effected, 
 
 * (and the fruits will prove that,) it was a true conversion : and every 
 
 * such person may justly both believe and say it himself, that he was 
 
 * converted at a particular assignable time. It may not be necessary 
 
 * to speak of his conversion, but he will always think of it, with un- 
 
 * bounded thankfulness to the giver of all grace, the author of all mer- 
 ' cies, spiritual as well as temporal.' 
 
250 
 
 those, who are seriously calling upon such cha- 
 racters '^ to repent and turn (or be converted) to 
 " God, and do works meet for repentance,"— 
 with the charge, that they are doing * a thing un- 
 * heard of in the gospel ? ' What means it to hold 
 such useful labourers up to the wicked, whose 
 conversion and salvation they are seeking, as per- 
 sons actuated by ' conceits, which revelation war- 
 ' rants not, and which reason and experience dis- 
 ' claim ? ' What object does all this promote, 
 but one, which ought to be the most opposite to 
 all the desires and feelings of a Christian minis- 
 ter's heart — '^ to strengthen the hands of the 
 " wicked in his wicked way " — and to fur- 
 nish arms to him, wherewith to resist all the at- 
 tempts made to bring him to a better mind ? It 
 is impossible not to write with a degree of zeal 
 and earnestness against sentiments and passages, 
 so big with practical mischief.* 
 
 * My feelings prompt me to decline, and my judgment does not 
 urge me to meddle with, all those parts of Mr. M.'s tracts which are 
 mere declamation, and appeal to the passions and prejudices of his 
 readers, against the opinions he controverts. Were not this the case, 
 I must seriously call upon him to consider the tendency of such pas- 
 sages as that, in which Milton's description of the lazar-house is 
 applied to the methodistic conversions. I am no more friendly than 
 Mr. M. to the extravagancies animadverted upon : but the imagina- 
 tions of %vicked and libertine men, furnished with such images, will 
 not confine the application of them to the distortions which have de- 
 formed religion, but will not fail to associate them with things of a 
 very ditferent and even of the most sacred nature. The wicked have 
 •ver been ready to charge their faithful reprovers with " desiring th« 
 
251 
 
 But there is a passage of Mr. Overton's, which 
 comes in for the same condemnation, of exhibit- 
 ing ' a conceit which revelation warrants not, 
 ' and which reason and experience disclaim.' It 
 is this : ' that, in order to a state of salvation, a 
 ' change of mind, of views, and dispositions must 
 ' be effected in every person, wherever born, 
 
 * however educated, and of whatever external 
 
 * conduct.'* 
 
 On this sentiment Mr. M. proceeds to reason 
 thus : ' Some humble Christians undoubtedly 
 '' there are, who, having been once regenerated 
 '^ by water and the Holy Spirit, have so followed 
 
 * his heavenly motions, and improved his sancti- 
 ' fying graces ; have so pursued the calm and 
 
 * blameless tenor of their way ; have preserved 
 ' that childlike simplicity of character, and that 
 
 * childlike innocenceof conduct, that their angels 
 
 * may not blush to behold the face of their hea- 
 ' venly Father. — Such was the conversation, even 
 ' under the Jewish law, of Zacharias and Eliza- 
 
 * beth, " who were both righteous before God, 
 ' walking in all the commandments and ordi- 
 ' nances of the Lord blameless.". . And are we to 
 
 " woful day," which they did but foretel ; and they will be ready to 
 avail themselves of the countenance, which Mr. M. may even seem 
 to afford them, for representing such persons as ' dwelling with 
 ' horrible delight on the terrors of God's wrath.' P. 77 — 79. 
 * Mant, p. 61, and again p. 65, quoted from Overton, p. ICO. 
 
252 
 
 ' be told that Christians, such as these, must ex- 
 
 * perience an entire change of heart, a thorough 
 ' conversion of their wajs ?' — I answer, Certainly 
 not. Nor would Mr. Overton, or, I believe, any 
 other writer whom Mr. M. has quoted, say 
 that they must. Is it possible for Mr. M. to 
 have understood Mr. O. to assert, that even the 
 truly converted man must undergo another con- 
 version, or be excluded from heaven ? This is 
 scarcely credible : yet, upon any other supposi- 
 tion, what avails all this reasoning ? Mr. M, has 
 himself immediately furnished the answer to it ; 
 though with some confusion of language, as to 
 the distinct provinces of the atoning blood of 
 Christ, and the sanctifying grace of the Holy 
 Spirit. ' By the blood of Christ/ he says, these 
 persons ' hax:e been purified from the original 
 
 * corruption of their nature ; by that blood they 
 
 * have been cleansed of their actual sins ; by the 
 
 * Holy Spirit of God, they have been regenerated; 
 ' his preventing grace hath conducted them ; 
 ' his assisting grace hath co-operated with, and 
 
 * given eflfect to their zealous endeavours to 
 ' persevere in the course of piety and virtue ; his 
 ' sanctifying influence renews and invigorates 
 *them day by day. Let God have all the glory 
 ' of their continuance in their Christian career ; 
 
 * but let it not be judged necessary that they 
 'should undergo "^ a change of mind, of views, 
 
 4 
 
253 
 
 ' and dispositions," when that change must be 
 ' from holiness to sin/* 
 
 Is there any thing in this contrary to Mr. O/s 
 doctrine? Let the reader examine the whole 
 passage in that author, and judge whether it 
 furnished a shadow of reason for the perversion 
 which it has suffered. 
 
 * It is our opinion/ Mr. O. says, 'that, in order 
 ' to salvation, a change of mind, of views, and 
 ' disposition must be effected in every person, 
 " wherever born, however educated, or of what- 
 ' ever external conduct. Is it said, this change is 
 " effected in us at our baptism ? We answer : 
 
 * have you then indeed kept your baptismal vow ? 
 ' Have you in the uniform and habitual tenor of 
 ' your life been ''renouncing sin, the world, and 
 
 * the devil ; following the example of our Saviour 
 ' Christ; and daily becoming more like unto 
 ' him ?" Have you indeed experienced the inward 
 
 * and spiritual grace, of which the washing of 
 
 * water is the external emblem, " a death unto 
 
 * sin, and a new birth unto righteousness ?'* And, 
 
 * are your views, tempers, and pursuits indeed 
 ' such, as in scripture every where characterize 
 
 * the regenerate children of God ? If so, it is 
 
 * well : but, if not, remember, we add, the apos- 
 
 » P. 62, 63. 
 
254 
 
 * tie's reasoning respecting circumcision, that 
 *' if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circum- 
 
 * cision is made uncircumcision." . . . Consider 
 ' also, we proceed, upon what high authority 
 
 * it is declared, . . . that " a good tree cannot 
 
 * bring forth evil fruit," but that " evil fruit" 
 ' is a certain proof of " a corrupt tree ;" and 
 ' that an evil conduct can only proceed from 
 ' an '^ evil heart." * Can any man, without 
 direct injustice, read over this passage, and 
 then represent Mr. O. as, in it, declaring 
 Conversion to be still necessary for those, who 
 have been and are acting agreeably to their bap- 
 tismal vows ? I do not charge Mr. M. with in- 
 tentional injustice ; far from it : but I see not how 
 he can be cleared of the want of that care and 
 attention, without which great practical injus- 
 tice often cannot be avoided. No one can read 
 Mr. O.'ft paragraph with half the pains which 
 should precede criticism upon it, and un- 
 derstand him to say prospectively, with regard 
 to every person, converted or unconverted, that 
 he must hereafter undergo such a change ? His 
 observation is introduced by an express reference 
 to the subject of his preceding chapter — human 
 depravity — and evidently relates to the natural 
 state of fallen man, and to a change which 
 
 ♦ Overton's True Churchmen, p. 160, 161. It may be remarked 
 that Mr. O. does not, in tliis whole passage, use the obnoxious term, 
 conversion. Jlis chapter is on * the doctrine of repentance.' 
 
^5b 
 
 cither has taken place, or must take place in him, 
 in order to his salvation. In those who are 
 really such Christians as Mr. M. describes, tho 
 change is already made, and needs not to be 
 made again. 
 
 I do not think it necessary to enter into any 
 minute examination of the scriptural use of the 
 term corwersion. Mr. M. has not attempted to 
 ihew, that this is such as should restrict its ap- 
 plication to the bringing over of infidels to the 
 faith of Christ, or even to the turning of profli- 
 gates to righteousness of life. The Jews arc con- 
 tinually called upon *' to turn" or " be con- 
 '' verted ;" and that not only when it became 
 their duty to embrace Christianity, but by their 
 own prophets, during the continuance of their 
 own dispensation. The term is applied in the 
 New Testament to the reclaiming of a professed 
 Christian, who had fallen into sin or error. 
 *• If any of you do err from the truth, and one 
 *' convert him, let him know, that he, which 
 " converteth a sinner from the error of his way, 
 *' shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a 
 '' multitude of sins."* Our blessed Lord applies 
 it to the recovery of Peter from his fall : ''When 
 " thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren :"f 
 — and even to the change which still needed to 
 
 * Jmuos V. 19, 20. t Luko xxii. 'i2. 
 
i6 
 (i 
 
 256 
 
 be made, or at least carried forward, in the minds 
 of his disciples : " Verily I say unto you, Except 
 ye be converted, and become as little children, 
 ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."* 
 — This is extending the use of the term much 
 further than those persons commonly do, who 
 fall under the censure of Mr. M. 
 
 But why need we adduce particular instances, 
 when Mr. M. himself, with high approbation, 
 cites the authority of a learned prelate, declaring 
 that ' in scripture we find ' conversion and re- 
 pentance ' conjoined, as one and the same ?'f If 
 it be an unquestionable matter, that we are to 
 preach repentance ; and if in scripture conver- 
 sion be ' conjoined with repentance, as one and 
 * the same ;' I see not on what ground we are to 
 be condemned for preaching conversion or repen- 
 tance, indiscriminately : or what pretencei;here 
 is for ranking the term co)iversion with ' the 
 ' phraseology of enthusiasm.' J Further questions 
 may remain, respecting the nature of conversion, 
 ( on which, indeed, we are not at variance with 
 Mr. M.,§) but, if repentance and conversion be 
 the same thing, this must demonstrate, that to 
 
 * Matt, xviii. 5 — 8. Mr. M., quoting these words, says, * such was 
 * our Saviour's warning to the unbelieving Jews.' (P. 58.) The 
 fact is, they were addressed to our Lord's disciples, asking of him, 
 " Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven !" 
 
 t P. 64. % P. 66. § Above, p. 240, 241. 
 
257 
 
 condemn the preaching of conversion, wherever 
 we allow it necessary to preach repentance, is 
 ' frivolous and vexatious.' 
 
 I do notj however, agree in the accuracy of 
 this representation, that in scripture conversion 
 and repentance mean exactly the same thing. 
 As applied, indeed, to the first bringing of a sin- 
 ner to repentance, it may be pretty nearly true : 
 but not as applied to that daily repentance, in the 
 exercise of which the Christian lives. We all 
 need repentance at all times : our continual imper- 
 fection and sinfulness demand it. But we do not 
 all, in the same way, need conversion. In scrip- 
 ture, as well as in modern language, this terra 
 generally includes the idea of a commencement of 
 true religion, which in many has happily taken 
 place, and does not need to be repeated. And, I 
 apprehend, it is the feeling of this difference, 
 which makes many persons more willing to hear 
 of repentance than of conversion. They are 
 willing to acknowledge themselves sinners, and 
 imperfect, and therefore needing repentance : 
 but they are not willing to feel, that they are 
 so ' far gone from original righteousness,' so 
 perverted and estranged from God, that they 
 must have " a new heart created, and a right 
 '' spirit put within them," and that otherwise 
 they can never serve God acceptably on earth, 
 
258 
 
 or inherit his heavenly kingdom hereafter. A 
 duty, which is common to them with sincere 
 and devout Christians they are willing to hear 
 of, at least in a general manner: but of what 
 is necessary to make them true and devout 
 Christians they cannot bear to be told, because 
 it suggests unpleasant truth concerning their pre- 
 sent state. 
 
 Let repentance be preached, such as the term 
 fxiTccvoix (^a change of mind) implies, and such 
 as the necessities of one, who has hitherto been 
 ' satisfied with mere nominal Christianity/ re- 
 quire ; and the doctrine of repentance, I fear, 
 will become no less unpalatable than that of 
 conversion. But it is because something much 
 short of this may be understood by the word, 
 something which resembles not '' the washing of 
 " the hands, and the head," and the whole man, 
 but that of him, who, having already been in 
 the bath, " needs not, save to wash his feet," and 
 is then " clean every whit :" * it is, I apprehend, 
 because they conceive repentance to mean only 
 something of this slighter and more general 
 kind, that it is less offensive to the fastidiousness 
 of modern ears. — There is great justness in the 
 following observations, which liave been made 
 upon this subject. ' Not a few either exclude 
 
 * John xiii. 6—10. 
 
259 
 
 * the words conversion and regeneration from 
 
 * their vocabulary, or are extremely sparing of 
 ' such expressions. They prefer the use of the 
 ' term repentance : but the repentance of which 
 ' they speak is interpreted by the body of their 
 ' hearers to be something very slight and tran- 
 •' sient. It is construed to mean regret on ac- 
 ' count of some few specific acts which have 
 ' been wrong, or a sorrow which may be sup- 
 ^ posed to have sufficiently manifested itself by 
 ' consenting to the confession in the church ser- 
 ' vice while it was read. It is not habitual 
 ' contrition on account of corruption, which 
 ' the penitent now perceives to have pervaded 
 ' the heart and life. — The amendment of conduct 
 
 * also, which many persons of this class labour 
 
 * to enforce, seems to consist chieflv in the re- 
 ' nunciation of gross sins, and in a due observ- 
 ' ance of the public ordinances of the church. 
 ' They represent man as in a safe and good state, 
 
 * unless and until he by some course of immo- 
 
 * rality forfeits his title to the Christian hope ; 
 
 * and though they treat of sins as acts which 
 
 * provoke God and bring guilt on the perpe- 
 ' trator, they seldom speak of them as indicative 
 
 * of an unpardoned and generally unsanctified 
 ' state.' * 
 
 * Christian Observer, 1808, p. 170. 
 S 2 
 
260 
 
 Two or three more points are all which I shall 
 notice, and ray remarks upon them will be verj 
 brief. 
 
 Mr. M. endeavours to establish a marked dis- 
 tinction among the conversions recorded in scrip- 
 ture, between those which were effected sud- 
 denly, and those which were more gradually ac- 
 complished. The former;, he says, were ^ the 
 ^ consequence of miraculous evidence;' the lat- 
 ter, ' of a deliberate attention to the ordinary 
 ' methods of conviction, and a willing and ra- 
 ' tional acquiescence in the result.' * Of the 
 onC;, he adduces as instances the three thousand 
 added to the church at the day of pentecost ; the 
 five thousand who subsequently ' believed the 
 ' word preached by Peter and John;' the people 
 of Lydda and Saron, Acts ix ; the two persons 
 whom he calls ' the proconsul of Asia,' and ' the 
 'jailor at Thyateira ;' f and, finally, St. Paul, 
 
 ♦ P. 68, 71, 72. 
 
 f P. 68. The inaccuracies into which Mr. M. falls in his appeals 
 to scripture are not a little extraordinary, especially in a learned 
 commentator. We have just seen him adducing our Lord's admo- 
 nition to his disciples, (Matt, xviii. 3,) as * his warning to the unbe- 
 < lieving Jews.' He here, and again, p. 84, mis-names the " deputy," 
 or proconsul, of the island of Cyprus, * the proconsul of Asia.' In 
 three different passages he calls the man who is known to every one, 
 as the Philippian jailor, < the jailor at Thyateira,' or alludes to what 
 occurred in connexion with his history, as happening ' at Thyateira,' 
 
261 
 
 of whom he expressly says, ^ It was the light 
 ' from heaven above the brightness of the sun, 
 ' and the voice of the heavenly vision, which con- 
 ^ verted ' him. — Among' the others, he instances 
 the Bereans, (Acts xvii.) who, he says, were 
 
 * not wrought upon by the Spirit of God, ope- 
 
 * rating independently of, and in a manner dis- 
 
 * tinguished from evidence, and argument, and 
 ' moral suasion ; but (they believed) subsequently 
 ' to, and in consequence of, their daily investiga- 
 ' tion of the scriptures, and ingenuous comparison 
 ' between them and the doctrine of the apostle.' 
 
 It is readily allowed, that the evidence of mira- 
 cles, which was afforded to some of these charac- 
 ters, as well as the study of the scriptures, for which 
 the others are so justly praised, was a means by 
 which their conversion was brought about. But 
 does Mr. M. suppose, that miraculous evidence 
 rendered any influence of the Spirit of God 
 upon the mind, *^ to take away the heart of 
 *' stone, and to give the heart of flesh," or " to 
 *' work in men to will and to do, of his good 
 '' pleasure," superfluous ? If so, he is, I con- 
 
 a city of Asia, instead of at Philippi, in Macedonia. P. 68, 81, 86. 
 The source of the mistake is, I suppose, there happening to have 
 been at that time at PhiHppi " a certain woman named Lydia, a 
 " seller of purple of the city ofTliyateira." — All this occurs after 
 Mr. M.'s Lecture has passed the press not less than six or seven 
 times ! 
 
269, 
 
 ceive, at variance with all sound and orthodox 
 divines, as he certainly is with the doctrines 
 of the church to which he belongs. And fur- 
 ther, if miraculous evidence were sufficient, 
 without any such inward operation of the Spirit, 
 how came it to pass, that, while many were so 
 happily affected by it, many more were only 
 moved to enmity and opposition, proportioned 
 to the overbearing nature of the proof, by which 
 a hated conviction was forced upon them ? * 
 
 Does he, again, conceive either miraculous 
 evidence, or such an operation of the Spirit upon 
 the mind as I have described, and as the scrip- 
 tures certainly much insist upon, to be incom- 
 patible with ' argument, moral suasion,' and ' a 
 ' deliberate attention to the ordinary methods of 
 ' conviction ?' If so, I should be sorry to take 
 his views of the subject. I understand miracles 
 to have furnished argument, and to have excited 
 attention to argument ; and the gracious in- 
 fluence of the divine Spirit on the mind to be 
 designed to enlighten the understanding, and to 
 incline the will to that ' deliberate attention,' 
 and to that ' ready acquiescence in the result * 
 of ' deliberate attention, to the ordinary methods 
 of conviction,' of which Mr. M. speaks. 
 
 * See John xi. 47—57. xii, 10, 11. 
 
263 
 
 But this connects with another point which 
 demands our notice, — Mr. M. is of opinion, that 
 ' there is some disposition and temper of mind 
 ' more arpt than others to receive the effectual 
 ' impressions of the gospel.' ' Such,' he says, 
 from an author whom he styles ' invaluable,' ' is 
 ' the honest and good heart in the parable : such 
 ' are the honest and meekj and the poor in spirit: 
 ' such as do the truth and the will of God^ so far 
 * as their information serves them ; such are the 
 ' weary and heavy-laden, and the like; they are 
 ' resembled to sheep and to babes ; and are said 
 ' to be of God, to have learned of the Father, 
 ' and to know him. These are said to be or- 
 ' darned, that is disposed,^ and in a fit posture 
 ' for eternal life ; and of this ingenuous and 
 ' noble temper were the people of Berea.'f That 
 such a difference of character exists, there is no 
 doubt : the only question is^ Whence does it 
 originate ? Is it from nature, or from ' the pre- 
 ' venting grace of God ? ' How our church an- 
 swers the question, may easily be judged from 
 her tenth article ; from her thirteenth article ; 
 from the passage quoted from her homilies at 
 the beginning of chapter x ; and from her 
 
 * Both this author (Woniack) and Mr. M. would fain have the 
 words, (Acts xiii. 48.) " as many as were ordained to eternal life 
 " believed " — to mean, as many ' as were Jit or zc ell-disposed for the 
 ' kingdom of heaven.' They do not, however, venture to assert, that 
 fai7a-ca-bai ever expresses inward disposition of mind. \ P. 73. 
 
264 
 
 prayers, which teach us to ascribe ' all holy 
 ^desires, all good counsels, and all just works,' 
 to God. In a sense somewhat different than 
 Mr. M/s author appears to mean, such persons 
 have been " taught, and have learned of the 
 '' Father: " hence it is, that they are ' disposed ' 
 to " come unto Christ." 
 
 The last passage on which I offer any re- 
 mark is the following. It professes to be di- 
 rected against the Methodists, but its principle 
 strikes directly at the doctrines of our common 
 Christianity. It is as follows, p. 75. ' It is 
 ^ true, we hear them telling their deluded fol- 
 ^ lowers, that they ought to be converted ; ex- 
 ' postulating with them for not choosing to be 
 ' converted, and for putting off their conversion, 
 ' for not turning to God directly ; intreating 
 ' them to repent and be converted : yet where- 
 ' fore ? when in almost the same breath they 
 ' tell them, that the author of this conversion is 
 ' the Holy Ghost ; that it is not their own free 
 
 * will ; it is not moral suasion ; that nothing 
 ' short of the influence of the Spirit of the 
 ' living God can effect this change in their 
 
 * hearts.' 
 
 Now what is the principle here assumed? That 
 nothing, which cannot be effected without ^ the 
 
265 
 
 ' influence of the Spirit of the living God,' is to 
 be made the subject of exhortation ! That it is 
 absurd and self-contradictory to exhort us to ^hat, 
 of which the Holy Ghost must be ' the author' 
 in us. In this principle, Mr. M. is again in en- 
 tire unison with persons whose doctrines, I am 
 sure, he abhors — the antinomians, who hold that 
 repentance, that faith, that prayer, is no duty to 
 men in general, because none of these things can 
 be performed aright but by the grace of God ! 
 Mr. M. holds, that it is absurd to exhort men to 
 that, which they cannot perform but by * the in- 
 ' fluence of the Spirit : ' and the shocking per- 
 verters of Christianity, just named, agree with 
 him ! — But is not repentance the gift of God ? 
 Is not faith the gift of God ? Are not love, and 
 joy, and peace, and long-suffering, and gentle- 
 ness, and goodness, and meekness, and temper- 
 ance, *^ the fruits of the Spirit } " And yet is it 
 not our duty to repent, to believe, and to exer- 
 cise all these Christian graces ? And are wc not 
 to be exhorted to perform this duty, though ' no- 
 ' thing short of the influence of the Spirit of the 
 ' living God ' can enable us to do it ? Do not 
 ' all holy desires, all good counsels, and all 
 * just works proceed from God ? ' And yet is it 
 not our duty, and are we not to be exhorted, to 
 conceive holy desires, to form good counsels, and 
 to execute just works ?— In short, has Mr. M. 
 
266 
 
 never heard of it, as a first principle in all sound 
 theoros^y, indeed as a fact which presents itself on 
 the very face of the scriptures^ that there is 7io one 
 thmg which almighty God, in one place, eiigages 
 to work in us, which he does not, iw another, ex- 
 Jiort and commayid us to do^ as much as if all de- 
 pended upon ourselves ? Is it promised in Deut. 
 XXX, " The Lord thy God will circumcise thy 
 *' heart to love the Lord thy God ? " it is com- 
 manded in Deut. x, " Circumcise your heart, and 
 " be no more stiff-necked." Is it the gracious 
 engagement of God, (Ezek. xxxvi.) *' A new 
 *' heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I 
 put within you, and I will take away the 
 heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give 
 " you a heart of flesh ? " It is his injunction and 
 exhortation, by the same prophet, (c. xviii.) 
 " Make you a new heart, and a new spirit ; for 
 '* why will ye die, O house of Israel," Is it " the 
 " Lord " who must " direct our hearts into the 
 " love of God ? " and are we " kept by the power 
 *' of God, through faith, unto salvation ? " 
 (2 Thess. iii. 1 Pet. i.) We are charged also, 
 (Jude 21.) " Keep yourselves in the love of God." 
 Are not repentance and faith the gifts of God ^ 
 Yet it is our duty, which we are commanded to 
 perform, '^ to repent and believe the gospel." 
 
 If these things present a difficulty, and a spe- 
 
 te 
 
267 
 
 culatwe difficulty, it is allowed, they do present, 
 he who has not felt his own system encumbered 
 with it, either has not embraced the system of 
 scripture^ or has very little considered what he 
 has professed to embrace. But, though a dif- 
 ficulty is admitted to exist in speculation in this 
 point, none can be felt in practice. Then do the 
 commands and exhortations answer their purpose, 
 when they excite us to seek of God the fulfilment 
 of his promises : and, when we plead his promises 
 in earnest prayer, then shall we be enabled to 
 obey his commands. And accordingly we may 
 add, to the maxim above laid down, the follow- 
 ing : That there is nothing which is in one place 
 made the subject of command, and in another of 
 promise, which is not in a third place made the 
 subject of prayer unto God. Thus, " Create in 
 " me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right 
 *' spirit within me ! " Here the thing enjoinedin 
 Ezek. xviii., and promised in Ezek. xxxvi., is 
 prayed for in Psalm li. And the same might be 
 shewn of every other duty and blessing. 
 
 But what shall we say if Mr. M. has not only, 
 in the basis of this argument, contradicted the 
 first principles of sound theology, and scriptural 
 knowledge, but if he has, at least as directly, con- 
 tradicted himself? This is the case. In page 
 Qb, he professes his ' cheerful concurrence' with 
 
 •2 
 
268 ' 
 
 Mr. Overton, who declares, that ' the author of 
 ' the happy change ' of conversion ' is the Holy 
 
 * Spirit.' In page 75, he argues the absurdity of 
 certain persons ' intreating men to repent and be 
 ' converted/ and ' expostulating with them for 
 
 * not choosing to be converted' — because ' in al- 
 ' most the same breath they tell them, that the 
 
 * author of this conversion is the Holy Ghost !' 
 
 Can a writer who falls repeatedly into such 
 self-contradictions; who so frequently mistakes 
 the scriptures; who so lightly, and even un- 
 consciously, goes about to subvert established 
 principles of orthodoxy; be justly set up for a 
 competent guide of public opinion ? Shall we 
 think him properly selected ' to convey, to the 
 
 * community at large, correct notions,' on the 
 most important theological subjects ? I should 
 be sorry to say one word, tending to lower Mr. 
 M.'s reputation as an author, did I not think that 
 reputation employed to give currency to opinions, 
 contrary to the real doctrines of the church of 
 Ens:land, and to '" the truth of the gospel" of 
 Christ. But, as that is my deliberate judgment, 
 I offer no other apology for what I have written. 
 
 Here, then, I close ray strictures on Mr. M. 
 To any one who may think of honouring these 
 pages with an answer, I beg leave to say as follows : 
 
269 
 
 All I ask in an opponent is fairness. Give rae 
 an antagonist, who shall ' feel an instinctive aver- 
 ' sion to vain and fruitless contentions concern- 
 ' ing the mere outsides of questions : ' * one who 
 shall ' wish to meet fairly the real points in dis- 
 ' pute, and to grapple with them : ' * and I am 
 satisfied. Such an antagonist I have endeavoured 
 to shew myself to Mr. M.; and^, should I meet 
 with one who proceeds upon the same principle 
 in return, 1 hope I shall be ready to avail myself 
 of any light and instruction he may have to afford 
 me. But I must say^, that the plan on which re- 
 plies are too often conducted is nauseating to 
 every sincere lover of truth, and every really 
 honest mind, i have known replies made, 
 wherein a few detached points were selected on 
 which a little wit, a little eloquence, or a little 
 seeming argumentation might be displayed, but 
 in which all the main questions at issue were 
 either misrepresented, or passed over in silence : 
 insomuch that, on reading over again the book 
 which vv'as to be answered, and noting in the 
 margin the topics which were left untouched, 
 their amount scarcely fell short of nine-tenths of 
 the whole. Now this is offensive and disgusting. — 
 So, in the present instance, nothing can be more 
 easy than to re-state, with confidence, assertions, 
 which have been already made ; nothing more 
 easy than to collect again a few detached sen- 
 
 * Deau of Carlisle. 
 
270 
 
 tences from our church services, (the meaning of 
 which is one great point at issue, ) and to say of 
 them, ' They need no comment : language can- 
 not be plainer : ' — nothing more easy than — to do 
 many things which I could name, and which may 
 raise the shout of victory among a man's own 
 partizans : but all this can advance us nothing in 
 the pursuit of truth : — it can afford no satisfac- 
 tion to the honest mind. Let us see the question 
 at issue fairly stated : let us see the arguments 
 which have been adduced upon it from the scrip- 
 tures — from the articles and liturgy of the church 
 ' — from the analogy of the other sacrament — from 
 the use of the same language concerning adults 
 as is employed concerning infants — though, in 
 the former, one would suppose a right state of 
 mind must by all be allowed necessary to prove 
 ' the sanctification of the Spirit : ' Let these and 
 other arguments be fairly met and canvassed, and 
 I say again, I am satisfied : I will regard the man, 
 who thus combats roe, not as an adversary, but 
 as my coadjutor in the investigation of truth. 
 
 Nov. 29, 1815. 
 
 P. S. Dr. M. is styled in the Tracts, The Rev. R. Mant, 
 M. A. It xvas not till tJie greater part of these sheets had passed 
 the press, that Itvas avoare that he had proceeded to the degree 
 
 Priistert 1)> C. Baldwin, 
 New BridiT' .s'r-'-t, Loudon. 
 
By the same yluthor, 
 
 1. Seven Sermons, chiefly addressed to young Per- 
 sons, on Baptism^ Confirmation, the Lord's Supper, and 
 the Sabbath : a new edit. 3^. 6d. in boards. 
 
 * The doctrines are such as have our most entire assent 
 
 * and approbation. As illustrative of our admirable 
 
 * Liturgy and Offices, nothing can be more useful and 
 
 * more intelligible, while some points are handled in a 
 
 * masterly manner,' &c. British Critic, 1809. 
 
 2. The Christian Minister's serious and af- 
 fectionate Address to Persons presenting a Child 
 TO BE baptized : 3d edit. Price 1^. 
 
 3. A Hulsean Prize Essay, on the Internal Evi- 
 dences of Christianity : 2d edit. 3^. in boards. 
 
 4. The Destiny of Israel : in which the past Deal- 
 ings, and future revealed Designs of Providence, with 
 that extraordinary People are examined. Is. 6d. 
 
 5. A Sermon on the Bible Society : exhibiting an 
 Epitome of the Society's Reports and Correspondence. 
 2d edit. Is. 
 
 6. The fatal Consequences of Licentiousness : a 
 Sermon occasioned by the Trial of a young Woman for 
 the Murder of her illegitimate Child. 5th edit. 1^. 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * The Works of the Rev. Thomas Scott, Rector of 
 Aston Sandford, including a new edition of his Com- 
 mentary on the Scriptures, in 6vols. 4to. price?/. 105. 
 in boards, (or, with coloured maps, 8/. 25.) may be 
 had of the Author, Aston Sandford, Thame, Oxon ; 
 of the Rev. J. Scott, PIull ; the Rev. T* Scott, Jun. 
 Gawcott, Buckingham; or the Rev. B. Scott, Red- 
 ditch, Worcestershire. 
 
Lately pullished, 2d Edition, Price Is. 6d. 
 
 A Letter to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of 
 Lincoln, on the Subject of the Attack made by his 
 Lordship on the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 
 his recent Charge to his Clergy : by a Clerical Member 
 of the Society. 
 
 " Ml the apprehensions, to which this Society has given rite, are now 
 " foHnd to be but vain terrors ; and all the prophecies of the mischief 
 *' and evil, that would rebult from if, are falsified by facts. It is rising 
 " uniformly in reputation and credit ; gaining new accessions of 
 "strength and revenue; and attaching to itself, more and more, the 
 " approbation and support of every real friend to the Church and to 
 " Religion." Bp. Porteus. 
 
 The Society is " at this moment countenanced by a majority of the 
 " whole Episcopal Bench of Great Britain and Ireland, and certainly 
 *' not disliked by other prelates, who have hitherto falcen no part in 
 " its proceedings." Dealtry's Review of Norris, 1815. 
 
 " Ut nemini parere animus bene a natura iuformatus velit, nisi aut 
 " praecipienti etdocenti, aut utilitatis causa justfe et legitime imperanti." 
 
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