(it PRINCETON, N. J. Presented by Mr Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. Agneiv Coll. on Baptism, No. BAPTISM A SEAL OF THE CHRISTIAN COVENANT; OR, REMARKS ON THE rORMER OF « TWO TRACTS INTENDED TO CONVEY CORRECT NOTIONS OF 3^eseneratton anlr Conversion, ACCORDING TO THE SENSE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, AND OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, BY RICHARD MANX, M. A. Chaplain to His Grace tbe Archbishop of Canterburj', and Rector of Sti Botolph's, Bishopsgate; and late Fellow of Oriel College." THOMAS T. BIDDULPH, A. M. Minister of St. James's, Bristol, and of Durston, Somersetshire ; and Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Dowager Lady Bagot; and late of Queen's College, Oxford. LONDON : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR; AND PUBLISHED BY J. HATCHARD, BOOKSELLER TO THE QUEEN, >rO. 190, OPPOSITE ALBANY, PiCGADILLYj "AWD BUtGIN AND RICHARDSON, BRISTOI,. I8I6. S. GosNELtj Priater, Little Queen Strwt, London. TO THE MOST REVEREND HIS GRACE CHARLES MY LORD, I PERSUADE myself that I may find an apology in the eminent station which you hold in the Church of these realms, for pre- suming to dedicate officially to Your Grace the present work. As a very obscure Clergyman in Your Grace's province, I should not have ven- tured on so great a liberty, if the high import- ance of the question in discussion, and the distinguished relation in which Your Grace has long stood to the Society which has adopted a2 IV the Tract of my respectable opponent, had not emboldened me. May I be permitted, my Lord, with the utmost deference, to entreat your very particular attention to one of the most momentous subjects that can engage the notice of the pious and learned members of our Protestant Church. If, by the apparently pre- sumptuous step of thus publicly making my ap- peal to Your Grace, as Primate of all England, I should succeed in attracting the regard of the Clergy to the general point now brought into agitation, I shall have obtained one object of the present unusual, but I trust not disrespect- ful, address. I have only further to implore, which I beg leave most humbly to do, Your Grace's forgiveness, for the trouble which I thus almost necessarily occasion you, and to assure Your Grace, with what sincerity I have the honour to be, ' My Lord, Your Grace's ever faithful And obedient Servant, T. T. BIDDULPH. ' BRISTOI., January 1, 1816. PREFACE. Very few words can be necessary as an apology for the following pages. The .acknowledged importance of the question, is the best excuse for every attempt, however humble, to discuss it. May I beg the reader to be assured, that the present work has been written with no per- sonal or sinister views ; but, so far as human in- firmity will allow me to speak, solely with a de- sire for the discovery and establishment of truth ? 'The doctrine of Baptism has, like most other topics of Divinity, given rise to various con- troversies. Pious and learned men. Archbishops and Bishops, as well as the inferior Clergy, have taken different sides on the numerous questions connected with it. But the Tract of Dr. Mant goes to form, as it appears to me, almost a new £era in the theological writings of Protestants. The broad and sweeping statement, that regene- ration, the new birth, the infusion of a new principle of life, a spiritual resurrection, a death VI unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness, is exclusively connected with Baptism, is, as I conceive, so opposed to the uniform testimony of the Holy Scriptures, and to that of the Liturgy and Articles of our Church ; is so contrary to the writings of our Martyrs and Reformers, and of our greatest Divines since the Reformation; and is so fatal in its tendency, as to cali for the marked attention of every serious inquirer after truth. I cannot have the presumption to hope that the following pages will satisfy all the readers of Dr. Mant's Tract ; I shall be truly happy if they contribute to excite that spirit of investigation which is the surest road to a safe decision. As the chief difficulty of the question seemed to me to lie in the fair and just interpret- ation of the ecclesiastical language retained from the first ages by our Church in her offices, I have not scrupled to collect very numerous and detailed testimonies on the point from the writings of the Reformers and great Divines, who were most likely to understand correctly a language which some of them were engaged in framing. The extracts from the books and tracts on the list of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, will, I trust, fix the atten- VI I tioii of the Members of tliat Society, and of the Church in general. The importance of these various authorities will, I hope, be a sufficient apology for the unusual length of the Appendix. It is my most earnest wish, that ..the question which Dr. Mant has brought in so prominent a manner into agitation, may not be allowed to rest, till it receive a final and satisfactory adjust- ment. May God grant that " the wisdom which is from above, which is first pure, iheh peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality (wrang- ling) and without hypocrisy," may govern the minds of all who engage in the discussion ! And, O that it may please Him so to " cast the bright beams of his light upon his Church," that it being " ever preserved from false Apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors, through Jesus Christ our Lord," : / J ■ ■ '< I; CONTENTS, • Page introductory Remarks 1—5 First Reason for objecting to Dr. ManCs main Proposition 5 — 49 Second Reason 49 — 118 Third Reason ^ 118—138 Appendix, First Class of Authorities 139 — 1 62 Second Class, 162—205 Third Class l.t'}..\ .:l.»ll.!:!^V..; 205— 25^ Conclusion : ,,... 253 — 255 REMARKS.%^^^^^C,,, ^C. It is the object of Dr. Mant's first tract, to prove that baptism and regeneration are never sepa- rated ; that no baptised person is unregenerate^ , and that no unbaptised person is regenerate. * The running-title of his tract does not clearly announce its scope and aim. It is, " re- generation, THE SPIRITUAL GRACE OF BAPTISM." Now, as Dr. Mant's pages are of a controver- sial nature, this title leads to a supposition that those with whom he contends on this subject, deny " regeneration" to be " the spiritual grace of baptism." But, where will the learned author find persons who maintain that baptism is not " the outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace ;" and that this inward spiritual grace is regeneration ? A second objection which meets me at the very threshold of my remarks, is a want of uni- formity in Dr. Mant's definition of regeneration. Sometimes it is simply *' an inward spiritual grace;" at others, external privilege is combined with his description of it. Sometimes it is for- giveness of sins, or justification; at others, it is 2 the grace of the Holy Spirit in sanctification. And there is the same defect of uniformity in some of the authorities whicli Dr. IMant has quoted. I observe, also, that Dr. Waterland, in his sermon entitled " Regeneration stated and explained according to Scripture and Antiquity," "vvho takes exactly the same view of the sub- ject which Dr. M. takes, and has produced, for the most part, the same authorities in support of his opinions, has fallen into the same confu- sion in his definition. At one time, he states the inward and spiritual grace of baptism to be " a death unto sin and a new birth unto righ- teousness," But, he afterwards says, " This change, translation, or adoption, carries in it many Christian blessings and privileges, but all reducible to two, y'lz. iX7?iission of si7js (ahsoiute^ or conditional), and a covenant claim, for the time being, to eternal happiness.'' I see not how " a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteous- ness," which is the definition of regeneration furnished by our Church, can be reduced to either of these two. If the learned author meant to say, that "pardon of sin and a covenant claim to. eternal happiness," are blessings which ac- company regeneration, I concur with him ; but they are not regeneration itself. Rights and pri- vileges accompany the birth of an heir to an estate ; but they are not the birth itself The birth itself is the production of a human being; and the new birth is the production of a Chris- tian ; " the new creature in Christ Jesus." It is not, I conceive, the privileges of spiritual ex- istence, but spiritual existence itself, which is denoted by being " born again." Regeneration describes, not justification, whereby, through the imputation of Christ's merits, a sinner is par- doned and obtains a covenant right to eternal happiness ; but the commencement of sanctifi- cation by the renewing power of the Holy Ghost. I have mentioned this variation of definition for the purpose of stating that, so far as external privilege is considered to be conferred at bap- tism, I have no difficulty in conceding all that may be demanded. The following remarks pro- ceed on the supposition that regeneration, the in- ward spiritual grace of which baptism is a sign and seal, is *' a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness f a work of the Holy Spirit on the heart, whereby the subject of it is made a partaker of a new life which he did not possess before; a spiritual life, the same in nature with the life of " saints made perfect in heaven,^' though differing widely in its degree of purity, vigour, and activity, as the life of infancy dif- fers from that of manhood; a life derived from God, entirely dependent on communion with him, and tending to his glory. Pardon of sin, and justification unto life eternal, are blessings obtained for us by the death of Christ. Rege- neration, according to my view of it, is a radical B S 4 change wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, never indeed Lmaccompanied by remission of sin, but carefully to be distinguished from it. Forgive- ness is the source of our peace with God, and our title to future glory ; regeneration is our Cfualijicalioii for its enjoyment. It is evident that any discrepancy of definition must produce per-r plexity in reasoning on the subject, and occasion difficulty in replying to the arguments adduced on either side of the question. BArnsaf I un^- derstand to be an outward 'visible sign of an in- ward spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof. Regene- ration is that inward spiritual grace ; or a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness ; for, being by nature born in sin and children of wrath, we are hereby made the childi^en of grace *. Regeneration then, or the new birth, is the first communication of spiritual life, the life of God, to the fallen soul of man, before " dead in trespasses and sins." It is the work of God, and is spoken of under the notion of « new birth, because spiritual life is derived from his agency, and is maintained by it, as, on the birth of an infant into this world, its animal life is derived from the material spirit or air, and is maintained by it. * By the inward and spiritual grace represented in baptism, this being the only subject of this answer in the Catechism, the outward sign being the subject of the former answer. If this be the true definition of regeneration, then it is the doctrine of Dr. Mant, that " a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteous- ness," always accompany the administration of the rite of baptism, so that no one is dead to sin and new-born to righteousness who has not been baptised with water ; and that every one who has been baptised, has thereby become dead to sin and new-born to righteousness *. To this doctrine I object, 1. Because I conceive that it is not the DOCTRINE OF THE BIBLE. 2. Because I conceive that it is not the DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 3. Because I consider it to have a very DANGEROUS TENDENCY. * ** The regenerating efficacy of baptism,'* p. 22. " Re- generation the fruit of Christ's holy ordinance of baptisna," p. 23. " The instrument whereby Christ says, we must be born again," p. 26. " For the purpose, therefore, of rege- neration, we conceive this union of water as the instrument, and of the Spirit, as the efficient principle, to be absolutely necessary," p. 27. ** 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 ordinances of God." *' To deny the regenerating effect of baptism is, in some sense, to do despite unto the Spirit of grace, and to rob him of his peculiar honours/' p. 28. '* Bapti.' ^^ is the yehicle of rege- neration," p. 29. " No other than baptismal regeneration is possible in this world,*' p. 32- *' We are born anew in bap- tism, and in baptism exclusively, " p. 33. B 3 1. I CONCEIVE THAT IT IS NOT THE DOCTRINE OF THE BIBLE. Dr. Maiit, indeed, supposes that he has stated *' several scriptural authorities, on which the notion of our being regenerated by baptism may be incontrovertibly maintained *. But I must own that none of them, in my judg- ment, appears to prove the point which they are adduced to estabhsh. The word regeneration, irccKLyyma-ia, occurs but twice in the New Testament ; viz. in Matt, xix. 28 ; and in Tit. iii. 4 — 7. The former of these texts can hardly be considered as bearing at all on the subject of baptism, f ; and for an * Baptism is the instrument whereby Christ says we must be " born again.'* — Where? *' It is the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, that we are by baptism made heirs of salvation," p. 29 In what part of the Scriptures ? " From these seve- ral authorities I apprehend 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 sal- vation, or (as he expresses it) to seeing or entering into the kingdom of God, is effected by the operation of the Holy Spirit at baptism," p. 35. f " 'Ev Tjj TraXifyEVEcr/a may be construed either with the pre- ceding a'jcoXaSrVavTjjj and denote that great change^ which began to take place in the world from the preaching of John the Baptist (Gomp. 2 Pet. iii. 13; 2 Cor. v. 17; and see Wet- stein) ; or else these words may be joined to the subsequent part of the sentence, and so refer to the grand renovation of all things at Christ's second coming (Comp. Acts, iii. 21), and particularly to God's children being then born again, as U were, from their graves. With the generality of interpret- ers, ancient and modern, I must own myself most inclined explanation of the latter, I refer to Bishop Brad- ford's Sermon, hereafter to be quoted. The terms, born again, born of God, born of the Spirit, begotten, children and sons of God, 8cc, often occur. But I recollect only one passage in which any of them is used witli any reference to-baptism, and that is Dr. Mant's text, John, iii. 6. In a variety of other scriptures, regeneration, or the new birth, is attributed not to baptism, but to the word of God as the instrument by which the effect is produced. " Being born again," says St. Peter, " not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by (W) the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever. And this (word) is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 1 Ep. i. 23, 25. " In Christ Jesus," says St. Paul, " have I begotten you" (not by baptising you, 1 Cor. i. \7 ; but) through (W) the Gospel," 1 Cor. iv. 15. " Of his own will," says St. James, " begat he us with the word of truth," James, i. 18. It is needless to add other texts to the same purpose. No passages can be produced, in which we are said to be born or begotten through or by baptism *. to this latter exposition. Comp. ver. 29, chap, xxv, 31, &c. Luke, xxii. 30. And see especially Kypke on Matt. xix. 28." —-Parlchurst's Lexicon. * Should Rom. vi. 4, be thought an exception, Buried wth him BY baptism into death, it will be remembered that the Apostle's language is wholly metaphorical, and that th© burial into the similitude of Christ's death, is indeed an al- lusion to the baptismal rite ; but that no inference can b*^ s 4 ** The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation," Rom. i. 16. And how can it be the power of God unto salvation, unless it be the instrument of regeneration by which sinners are brought into a state of salvation ? '' Our Gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much as- surance having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost." Dr. Mant himself seems aware of the diffi- culty attending a demonstration that the words of our Lord to Nicodemus, which appear to be the main support of his building, have any reference whatever to the ordinance of baptism. I believe, with him, that our great Teacher therein alluded, by anticipation, to that sacrament which he in- tended to ordain in his church. But, Dr. Mant himself intimates, if I mistake not, the difficulty which attends the proof of this, when he says, '^li should appear that our Lord was alluding, &c. ;" and when afterwards he adds, " I make no sa'Uple of considering the words of our Saviour, as in- dicating the sacrament of baptism, because I be- lieve it to be the doctrine of the Bible, &c. ;" resting the propriety of the interpretation which he has given of his text on evidence to be found in other passages of Scripture. drawn from such an allusion, as to the instrument whereby the new birth is produced, in opposition to the direct asser- tions above quoted. In the parallel passage, CoU ii. 12, it is ** IN baptism.'* There are, however, a multitude of writers, besides the Quakers whom Dr. Mant has speci- fied, who take a very different view of this text, and think that both its branches are figurative. They build their opinion on tlie non- institution of Christian baptism at the time of our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus; on the absence of the article from both the words " water" and " spirit;" and on the use of the word " spirit,'* as denoting the wind, in verse 8th of the same chapter, where the same subject is continued. Among the writers who have expounded this text differently*, it may be sufficient to mention Saurin, who, in his first sermon on regeneration, says, " To be born of water and of the Spirit, is an Hebraism, which signifies to be born of spiri- tual water. By a similar mode of expression, it is said in the third chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, * I indeed (it is John the Baptist who speaks) — I indeed baptise you with water ; but He thai Cometh after me is mightier than I He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fre'^ i. e. with spiritual fire. When Jesus Christ declares that no man can see the kingdom of God unless he be born of water and of the Spirit, he intended to teach us, that it is not sufficient for a true member of his church to receive bap- tism, which is called " the laxjer of regeneration"" (Tit. iii. 5) ; but that a greater change must take * See also Dr. Fulke, as quoted in the Appendix, No. Xlt. 4 10 j^lace in us than that which water makes on the surrace of our bodies*." But, allowing the propriety of Dr* Mant's interpretation of his text, which is also that of the Church of Eng- landj it is surely too weak a foundation on which alone to build the doctrine he maintains, and to advance the heavy charge of heresy against those who differ from him on the sub- ject. But these words of our blessed Lord, allow- ing that baptism is therein spoken of, do not, I conceive, assert any necessary connexion of cause and effect between the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace. Our Lord asserts, indeed, the necessity of both to the ends which they have in view ; but he does not say, nor can it be inferred from his words, that they are contemporaneous, or that the one may not be received independently of the other. Our Church has, therefore, declared the sacraments to be " ge^ nerally necessary to salvation," that is, where they may be obtained ; intimating that the thing signified by either sacrament, which is absolutely necessary to salvation, may be enjoyed without its visible sign : and, therefore, contrary to the practice in the times of Popery (when baptism and regeneration were considered to be so con- nected that they could not be separated, and when, consequently, baptism was deemed to be * Saurin's Sermons, vol. vji. p. ilS. li indispensably necessary to salvation), she has prohibited lay baptism by midwives or, other persons, formerly allowed, though at the mani- fest risk of some children's dying unbaptised *\ But, if Dr. Mant's text do not maintain a necessary connexion between baptism and rege- neration, I know of no other passage of Scrip- ture that does maintain it. His other quotations appear to me to fail entirely, as I shall hereafter endeavour to show. But I conceive that there are passages in abundance which directly dis- prove such a connexion. As I am not arguing in support of a party or of preconceived opinions, but with an honest de- sire to ascertain the truth and to hold it fast; and as I am anxious neither to deceive, nor to be deceived, I shall draw my inferences from Scripture premises, chiefly in a syHogistic form, however scholastic it may appear, in order that their fallacy, if there be fallacy in them, may be more easily detected. And I sincerely wish and pray that any fallacy in my reasoning may * Dr. Waterland, in his sermon before quoted, has made more than one reference to the works of the very learned and excellent Vitringa. How far this able divine may be claimed as an ally in the Doctor's cause, will appear from the following passage in his Aphorisms. S3. Necessitas usus hujus sacramenti (quam Sociniani Omnino subvertunt) tanta non est quantam Pontificii fingunt : neque enim gratia divina ab aqua baptismi dependet. 34. Unde etiam opus non est aliis ministris, praeter statos et ordinarios, adoiinistrationera baptism! concedere. 12 be detected, and shall be sincerely thankful to Dr. Mant, or to any other person, who will cha- ritably show me wherein I err. Let us then seriously, and in a spirit of de* pendence on divine teaching, look into the oracles of God, remembering that " Holy Scrip- ture containeth all things necessary to salvation.' so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." And may " God," who did of old " teach the hearts of his faithful people, by sending to them the light of his Holy Spirit, grant us, by the same Spirit, to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort, through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour. Amen." It will be allowed, that to be born of God, and to be regenerate, are terms of exactly the same import; so that he who is born of God is regenerate, and he who is regenerate is born of God. Now, " whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God*." John, v. 1. But the three thousand who were converted on the day of Pentecost, and St. Paul, were believers before they were baptised; as indeed all adults professed to be. Therefore, the three thousand converts and St. Paul were born of God, or * Tryim'reut hath been borji.' 13 regenerate, before they were baptised. Df. Mant says, p. 42, 43, that St. Paul was con- verted three days before he was baptised, or, in his view, regenerated : " 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." After this, I need not stay to prove that St. Paul was at this time a believer in Jesus, who appeared unto him. Dr. Mant's definition of conversion is as fol- lows : page 57, he says, " Conversion, accord- ing to our notions, may not improperly be said to consist of a rational conviction of sin and sense of its wretchedness and danger; of a sin- cere penitence and sorrow of heart, at having incurred the displeasure of a holy God; of steadfast purposes of amendment, with the bless- ing of the divine grace ; of a regular and dili- gent employment of all the appointed means of grace; and of a real change of heart and life, of affections and conduct, and a resolute perseve- rance in well-doing." Can all this be produced without a death unto sin and a nezv birth unto righteousness, in which regeneration consists? or can a person, thus changed, be dead in sin and a child of wrath, as all unregenerate persons are? To ask such questions is to answer them in the negative; yet Dr. Mant says, p. 42, that " such a change of heart," as conversion, " may be wrought either before or after baptism; in 14 persons either regenerate or unregenerate ; it qualifies them for regeneration, if unbaptised; it restores them to the privileges of baptism, which they may have forfeited by being harden- ed in sin ; it accompanies those wlio are, humanly speaking, good, through the whole course of the Christian life." If faith may precede regenera- tion, and introduce us into a state of justifica- tion (according to St. Paul's doctrine, that we are justified by faith)) and if conversion, or a change of heart, such a change as Dr. Mant has excellently described ; may also precede re- generation; I ask again for a definition of re- generation. It fs « death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness, neither in the sense of justi- fication, nor in that of sanctification ; and bap- tism, the supposed vehicle of it, can be nothing more, on our author's own concessions, than a sign and seal of both. Before we quit the subject of St. Paul's con- version, another remark arises from it. Suppli- cation, in or by the Spirit, is an eflfect of the Spirit's influence on the heart. The Spirit of God. is, therefore, called " the Spirit of grace and supplication." The new birth is, as the metaphor implies, the first effect of the Spirit's gracious influence; it is the communication of spiritual life; and prayer is one of its earliest and most certain evidences. But Saul, of Tar- sus, prayed before he was baptised; and his praying is mentioned by the Lord, in his reve- 15 lation to Ananias, as evidence of the change which had passed on his heart. It is worthy of notice, that the very form of profession required by Phihp, and made by the Ethiopian eunuch before he was baptised, Acts, viii. $7i verbally corresponds with that which is stated by St. John, in the passage on which we have been reasoning, to be evidence of being in a regenerate state, 1 John, v. 1, only chang- ing the title, the Christy for its synonym the Son of God''. * Dr, Waterland, in the sermon before quoted, maintains that repentance and faith 3ixe preludes to regeneration. The Doctor has not attempted to prove this point, unless the no- tion that baptism and regeneration are inseparable, be proof. But they which are qfjaith, the same are the children ofAbra* ham, i. e. o^ GoA. All believers, therefore, are the children of God. They are born of God, and their faith is evidence of their new birth. A visitation sermon, by the Rev. John Mathew, rector of Kelve and Stringston, Somerset, on Mark, xvi. 15, has lately appeared from the press, the object of which is similar to that of Dr. Mant. It is (to adopt Mr. Mathew's own ,words) to prove " that salvation (including regeneration, forgiveness, justification, and sanctification) is bestowed in baptism ;'* and he affirms it to be *' evident from innumerable passages of Scripture, that all the several parts of salvation are attributed to this blessed sacrament." I am unhappily so blind, that, after a diligent search, I am unable to disco- ver one such passage. Mr. Mathew, though his object is the same as Dr. Mant's, has taken other ground. He as- sumes a distinction which, to me at least, is altogether novel, that there are two different kinds of justifying faith de- scribed in Scripture, which he calls " the faith of the con- 16 We proceed to another history of conversion, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Every Ofie whofeareth God, and worketh i^ighteotisness, is accepted of him; Acts, x. 35. And none are accepted of God but those who are born of God ; for, by our natural birth, we are born in sin and children of xvrath. But Cornelius, the cen- turion, feared God, wrought righteousness, and was accepted of God, before he was baptised. Therefore Cornelius was born of God before he was baptised. It is to be observed, that the Holy Ghost was poured out on St. Peter's converts, in the house of Cornelius, Acts, x. 44 ; not only in ▼ert, and the fiiith of the Christian." I had previously thought, that a convert to Christianity was a Christian ; but, supposing that I have been wrong in this supposition, yet, unhappily for Mr. Mathew's scheme, neither the Scripture nor our church recognises any other than the " ONE faith," as available to salvation. The distinction between a living and a dead faith, is the only distinction to be found in either. *' Justifying faith is not alone in man, without true repent- ance, ho'pe, charity, and the fear of God, at any time or sea^ son.^* (Horn, of Just.) If hope be the attribute of faith at all times, Mr. Mathew's distinction between d^ fiducial faith and the faith of the convert, must be without any foundation. And still more unhappy is it for Mr. Mathew's distinction, that the very faith, which he expressly describes as " the faith of the convert," which precedes baptism, is, with verbal exactness, described by St. John as the evidence of regene- ration. For Mr. Mathew says, that •' the faith of the con- vert is a cordial belief ^Aai Jesus is the Christ ;" and St. John says that uhosoever beliexteth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. lEp.v. 1. 17 his sanctifying, but also in his miraculous in- fluences, before they were baptised. That, in this case, these were united, is evident from their conduct; for, " they spake with tongues, and magnified God'' Now, no one is sanctified who is not regenerate, for regeneration is ^' a new birth unto righteousness." These converts, therefore, were regenerate before they were bap- tijsed. And they were baptised in consequence of their being regenerate; for, St. Peter said, *' Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptised in tlie name of the Lord Jesus." Dr. Mant asserts, most justly, p. 44, that ** the appellatives of bornof God, and the sons of God, are convertible terms." Now, St. Paul says, addressing himself to the Galatians, " Ye are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus*." Chap. iii. 26. But faith, as appears by the case of the three thousand converts, and by that of St. Paul, may exist previously to baptism, and independently of it. Therefore, men may be- come the children of God before they are bap- tised, really, though not manifestly; for, "bap- tism is the door of our actual entrance into * Aid, here as elsewhere, denotes the means by which they became the children of God. The word of God is the means of operation, and faith the means of acceptance arid enjoyment. C 18 God's house (or church); the first apparent be- ginning of hfe; a seal, perhaps, to the grace of election, before received*." Whosoever doth not commit sujy and cannot sinf is born of God. I John, iii. 9. But repentance ^whereby we forsake sin, is, according to the doc- trine of St. Peter, a prerequisite to baptism. Acts, ii. 38. Therefore regeneration, or the new birth, since no penitent is unregenerate, is, by, the same authority, a prerequisite to baptism. If any man be in Christy he is a new creature. 2 Cor. V. 17. But every beUever is in Christ; for, by faith beHevers are united to him. There- fore every behever is a new creature^ that is, borix of God, or regenerate, whether he have been baptised or not. Every one that loveth is born of God. 1 John, Iv. 7. But every believer loveth, for faith work- eth by love. Therefore every believer, even be- fore baptism, is born of God. Every one that doeth righteousness is born of God. 1 John, ii. 29. But Cornelius feared God and wrought righteousness before he was baptised. The inference is plain. He that received the word of the Apostles, in the love and power of it, is declared to be of Gody that is, born of God. 1 John, iv. 6. (comp. 1 John, iii. 10.) But St. Peter's converts, Acts, ii. 41, " gladly received his word" before they were baptised. Therefore St. Peter's con- * Hooker, quoted by Dr. Mant, p. *3. 19 verts were of God, that is, born of God before they were baptised. We read, Acts, xix. 1, &c. of certain persons at Ephesus, who are called disciples, who had been baptised with John's baptism of repentance, and who are said to have believed, whom never- theless St. Paul directed to be " baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus." Were these persons regenerate or unregenerate before their second baptism ? To say that they were unregenerate, would be to assert, that men may be disciples of Christ, repent of their sins, and believe in his name, before they, experience a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousfiess. If it be al- lowed that they were regenerate, then it follows that men may be born again before they are baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. John's baptism was or was not attended with regenerating influence from above. If it was, why did St, Paul direct those who had received it to be baptised again in the name of the Lord Jesus ? The notion of a second regeneration is out of the question : naturally cr spiritually, man can be born but once. If John's baptism was not attended with regenerating grace, h :w are we, on Dr. Mant's view, to understand the declaration, John, i. 12, that to as r.wiiy as re- ceived onr Lord, to them gave he pouer (tlij privi- lege) to became the sons oj God, even to them that believe on his name? For this assignnient of right seems to be coeval with the first exercise of c 2 20 faith by the disciples, previously to the institu- tion of Christian baptism, of which indeed we have no information when or how the Apostles were made partakers. The truth I believe to be, that neither the baptism of John, nor Chris- tian baptism, necessarily conveyed regenerating, that is, renewing grace. The former was a sign and outward profession, made by the per- son baptised, of repentance towards God ; and the latter, both of repentance towards God and of faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And, as God is a party in this solemn transaction, baptism is, on his part, a seal to the promises of pardon and salvation, made in his word to the penitent believer. (Comp. Mark, i. 4, 5.) The case of Apollos, Acts xviii. is also to our purpose. He had been instructed in the way, or doctrine, of the Loi^d Jesus, was fervent in the Spirit J taught diligently the things of the Lord, and spake boldly in the synagogue, while as yet he had received only " the baptism of John." Is it possible that all this can be said of an unrege- nerate person ; of one who is not " dead to sin and born again to righteousness?" Apollos wa» not only spiritually alive, but fervent in the Spirit', and in spite of opposition, and at the risk of all that is valuable to man, reputation, property, liberty, and life, he preached the Gos- pel of God our Saviour in the synagogues of the. Jews. And yet, if regeneration be confined to the recipient of Christian baptism, this man 3 21 must have been, at this very period, dead in sin and a child of wrath ; for he was not yet made by Christian baptism a child of grace. It is asserted by St. Paul, 1 Cor. ii. 14, that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritu- ally discerned. Now, every man, on Dr. Mant's hypothesis, who is unbaptised is a ?iatural man, i. e. unregenerate. No unbaptised person then receiveth the things of the Spirit of God, or can know them. But repentance and faith are things of the Spirit of God, both being effects of his grace on the heart. And repentance and faith are required, both by the Scriptures and our Church, as prerequisites to ba])tism. It is, moreover, asserted by the same Apostle, that they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom. viii. 8. But Cornelius pleased God, be- fore he was baptised. Cornelius therefore ceas* ed to be in the flesh, that is, unregenerate (comp. John, iii. 6), before he was baptised. On the contrar}', " /o be spiritually minded is life and peace.^^ Rom. viii. 6. Repentance and faith are acts, or rather habits of the spiritual mind. But repentance and faith are prerequisites to baptism, A spiritual mind, therefore, which is life and peace, is necessary as a prerequisite to baptism. And, surely, this spiritual mind is the very essence of regeneration. It is difficult to prove the negative side of c 3 \ the question, that baptised persons may be un- regenerate, because Dr. INlaut has this sweep- ing answer to make to every case which can be produced, that the baptised person, who is Hving in sin, has forfeited the grace conferred in baptism. If nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand baptised persons were to be produced, who have not, and who never had any spiritual sensibihty; or if an instance be given of one who, hke Simon Magus, immediately after baptism, gives proof of a carnal state of heart; the reply would be. They are fallen from grace communicated to them in baptism. But, surely, if it have ap- peared that regeneration may precede baptism, it will be eas}'^ to believe that baptism may be unaccompanied by regeneration. The onus pro^' bandi, therefore, in a case so improbable as that all baptised persons have been ^^ dead imto sin and ali've to righteousness,'' lies with those who assert it; and, till this be performed, the assertion that the multitudes of baptised persons who are liv- ing without God in the world, practical u^soi iv tu ^oa-^cct have been regenerated, will have little weight. Let us, how^ever, see whether any evidence can be found or not, to prove that a baptised person ma}' be unregenerate. Is not the Apostle John speaking of persons who had been baptised, when he says, J Epist, ii. 19, They went out from us, but they were not of us : for, if they j^ad been of us, they would no 23 doubt have continued with us: but theywent out, that ihey might be made manifest that they were not all of us f They had been with the church as its members, and consequently had been baptised. But the Apostle says, that though with it for a time in profession, as having been baptised into its communion, they had never been of it, as partakers of its regenerating grace; ^nd that this want of vital union with it was the cause of their outward apostacy, or departure from its visible communion. No one is born of God who does not believe with the heart unto righteousness; for, from St. John's assertion, 1 Epist. v. 1, already quoted, it may safely be inferred, that whosoever does not believe is not born of God. But many baptised persons do not so believe. The inference is plain. He that committeth sin, that is, wilfully and habitually, is of the devil. 1 John, iii. 8. But no regenerate man is of the devil ; for a man cannot be both a child of God and a child of the devil. But many baptised persons live in the wilful and habitual practice of sin, and have never been delivered from it, and are therefore, according to St. John's doctrine, not the children of God, but the children of the devil. Whosoever is born of God sinneth not, that iu, wilfully and habitually. 1 John, v. 1 8. But many baptised persons do sin, wilfully and habitually, therefore many baptised persons are not born of God. Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh th^ c4 24 world. 1 John, v. 5. But many baptised per- sons do not overcome it, and have never over- come it. Therefore they are not born of God. If to be baptised and to be born of God be inseparable; if the one imply the other; then that which is predicable of all who are regene- rate, is predicable also of all who have been baptised. In this case it may be said, '^ Every one who believeth that Jesus is the €h}^ist," has been baptised. But Scripture facts contradict the assertion. ** Every one who is baptised over- Cometh the worlds But to this may be opposed daily observation. " Every one '■'that doth righ-^ teousness hath been baptised."" To this the case of Cornelius, before Peter's visit, and a multitude of other instances, are plain contradictions. It is said. Acts, ii. 47, that the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved: rather (p-oo^o^ivai) the saved, persons already brought into a state of salvation. They were first brought into a state of salvation, and then added to the visible church. But how were they brought into a state of salvation? Certainly not without regeneration ; for, except a man be horn again he cannot see the kingdom of God. John, iii. 3. But how were they added to the church? Clearly by the sacrament of baptism. For this is the only door of admission to the visible church. These converts, therefore, were first regenerated and then baptised. The evidence that they were in a state of salvatiou; and cQiit 25 ficquently regenerate, was Jaith which xvorketh by love. See ver. 42, &c. No positive inference on this subject can perhaps be drawn from what St. Paul says to the Galatians, chap. \y. J 9, 20: My little children^ of whom I travail in birth till Christ be formed in you / stand in doubt of you. But the apparent inference, from the Apostle's words, is certainly unfavourable to the doctrine of a necessary con- nexion between baptism and regeneration, and therefore Dr. Waterland has laboured to set it laside; witli what success I leave his readers to determine. It seems to me that the Apostle, being disappointed in some of the Galatian pro- fessors, whom he had hoped that he had, instru- mentally, begotten through the Gospel, was now anxious for their regeneration, using the means which God blesses for that end. Would he have said, / travail in birth again, till Christ be formed in you, had these Galatians, of whom he was afraid lest he had bestowed upon them labour in vain, ver. 1 1 , been regenerated at their baptism ? Is not the formation of Christ in the heart a phrase of the same import with regene- ration, or a new birth unto righteousness ? Can' the one be disparted from the other.^ In Eph. iv. 4, 5, 6, St. Paul enumerates what, may be called the unities to be found in the Christian church, for the purpose of enforcing the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He Wientiops one bodyt comprehending the wholo 126 Tiumber of the faithful, " the holy catholic church ;" and one Spirit, as animating that one body throughout all its members; one hope of our calling, one object and one grace of hope, to which the Gospel calls us, and with which the Spirit inspires us; one Lord in whom, and one faith or creed in which, and one faith or belief, by which we believe in that one Lord ; and he adds, one baptism, the sign and pledge of rege- neration by the one Spirit before mentioned, and the outward act of professing the one faith in the one Lord Jesus Christ. Would the Apostle have thus separated the Spirit from baptism in his catalogue, interrupting the con- nexion by three other ideas, had they been inse- parable in their participation, as Dr. IVIant sup- poses? In this case it appears to me that he would have said, " One Spirit, one baptism,** one baptism, as the channel of communicating the one Spirit. It will not be denied that the Scripture usual- ly attributes salvation to faith, as the means of its recipiency ; so that he who believeth, and he only, is in a state of acceptance with God, and in the way to everlasting salvation. Access into the grace of God is not by baptism, but by faith, Rom. V. ^. Salvation is also //^roi/o-^yaiM, AIA* T^f TTig-coog. Ephes. ii. 8. But it also appears that the Scriptures sometimes, though very rarely, coi*)nect baptism with salvation ; and it may be asked what that conpexion is,. We read of the 27 laver of 7r general ion and (he renewing of the Holy. Ghost, and both mentioned in connexion with salvation. According to his mercy he sauced us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Tit. iii. 7. St. Peter also, after mentioning the ark in which Noah and his family were saved, says, the likefgure (oivritvirog) whereunto baptism doth now save us (not the put- ting away the fdth of the fleshy but the answer, the stipulation, of a good conscience towards God) by the Insurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Ep. iii. 21. We also read the following awful declaration, as the sanction of the Divine commission given to the Apostles and their successors : He that be- lieveth and is baptised shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be damned. On this last pas- sage it will be observed, that, in the second clause, the mention of baptism is omitted; be- cause, although baptism is a sign of regeneration and the appointed means of avowing faith in Christ; the want of it is not the cause of damn- ation, since unbelief alone excludes fi'om a share in the Gospel salvation. He that hath the Son, hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life, but the wrath of God ahideth on him What then is the scriptural connexion be- tween baptism and salvation ? I conceive bap- tism to be chiefly a symbol and evidence. It is symbolical. *' The mystical water," on the part of God, who appointed its use, is " an outwavd and visible sign of an inward and 28 spiritual grace ;" and on the part of man, the participation of it is a significative promise, wliich may or may not be sincere. Like the ark of Noah (to refer again to St. Peter's illus- tration), it is a figure, the outward washing be- ing a representation of inward cleansing, the effect of which inward renewal is the stipulation of a good conscience towards God. The salvation of Noah and his family in the material ark, the figure to which the Apostle compares baptism, might or might not be, according to the spiritual state of those who were therein figuratively saved, accompanied and followed by spiritual and everlasting salvation. The case is the same with respect to persons baptised. " The water is sanctified or set apart" to the ntystical wash- ing " away of sin," Its effect is symbolical or " mystical." I cannot conceive of any other virtue given to the water in baptism (or to the bread and wine in the other sacrament) than that of a symbol, nor of any other necessary effect following its application than that which is also symbolical. It represents to the eye the way of salvation, while it also affords evidence to the penitent believer of his interest in that salvation. " To administer a sacrament is, by the outward word and element, to preach to the receiver the inward and spiritual grace of God *." And preaching may or may not be effectual to those to whom it is addressed. * Homily of Common Prayer and SacramentSt 29 Baptism is designed also to be an evidence. On the part of God, it is an evidence to assure us of his favour, if we possess the necessary prerequisites to baptism, " repentance whereby we forsake sin, and faith whereby we steadfastly believe the promises of God made to us in that sacrament." It is " a seal," as our catechism terms it, appended to the charter of life. But it is, as every thing external in the dealings of God with man must be, conditional. This is im- plied in the texts just quoted, and particularly in that from the First Epistle of St. Peter, where the Apostle, to prevent any mistake, expressly says, that the washing with water, without the stipulation of a good conscience towards God, that is, in the words of our catechism, without faith and repentance, avails nothing. To be- lieve in the non-conditionality of the baptis- mal covenant on the part of God, is to carry the doctrine of grace far beyond its usual bounds of demarcation. What was the object of our Lord's own sub- mission to this ordinance ? Not to obtain rege- nerating grace; he needed it not; but to af- ford evidence of his Messiahship by the visible descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice from Heaven. He before possessed that Spirit; he was before God's beloved So?i ; but his baptism was for the purpose of manifestation, as ours also is. It as an evidence also on the part of the sin- 30 ner who receives it, as it is a pledge given by him to his profession of faith and repentance, and to his solemn promises and vows of self- dedication to the service of God. But if this pledge be insincerely given, if no verification of it appear, who will say that any other effect has followed from the solemn engagement than an increase of guilt and condemnation ? Our Lord's parables justify the view which has been taken in these remarks. The visible church is compared to a field, in which tares and wheat grow together. The tares were not originally wheat and afterwards deteriorated in quality ; but are, as they grow up, what they were when first planted. The tares, though growing in the field of the visible church, were sown therein by the devil, and are styled, in our Lord's explanation of the parable, the children of the wicked one. The Gospel-net brings to shore fish good and bad, distinguished in quality from each other by the eye of Omniscience from the time of their being caught. The guest without the wedding garment has not soiled or destroyed one which he formeity wore, but never was duly clothed for the marriage-feast. The branches of the mystic vine which bring forth no fruit, have not lost a previous fruitful quality, but were from the first unfruitful. Is it probable, that, if baptism were the only and certain channel of regenerating grace, of that grace whereby we die to sin, and are new 51 born to righteousness, there should not be one passage found from which this can be inferred, throughout the history of the Acts, or in any one of the Epistles? Might we not have ex- pected to have found the doctrine, expressed or implied, not in an insulated passage of Scripture, not in a few passages only, but interwoven with every history of the plantation of a church, however short, and with every epistle addressed to the churches so planted? I should have ex- pected to have found the members of the church continually described by the attribute of their baptism, if it were equivalent to regeneration. But, on the contrary, though I iind the terms, " born of God, children and sons of God, saints, believers, &c." I no where find them charac- terized by that which, on Dr. Mant's hypothe- sis, would comprehend all in one word-^ their baptism. To establish this point more clearly, let us bring together into one view every passage of Scripture which can be at all considered as bearing on the question, taking first those which speak of baptism, and then those which speak oi regeneration, under the several notions which the Scripture has adopted on the subject. We shall thus be enabled to determine, by " com- paring spiritual things with spiritual," what sense the terms bear, and whether that con- nexion subsist between them for which our author contends. This will be at least a fair 3^ mode of procedure, and will afford our readers an opportunity of judging for themselves on the subject. I cannot engage to omit no passages which may apply, or be supposed to apply, to the point at issue; but I have intentionally omit- ted none which appear to me to do so, BAPTISM. Mat. iii. 1 1. I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Chap, xxviii, 19- Go ye, therefore, and teach * all nations ; baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Mark, xv. 15, 16. Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every crea- ture : he that believeth and is baptised shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Acts, i. 5. John truly baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Chap, ii. 37, 38, 39- Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be bap- tised, every one of you, iu the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Comp. * Marg. reading, Make disciples, or Christians, of all na*^ tions. According to this reading, they were first to be made Christians, and then baptised. S3 cliap. vili. 20.) For the promise (Marg. refer- ence Joel, ii. 28) is unto you and to your chil- dren, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Then they that gladly received his word (Com p. John, viii. 47) were baptised; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts, viii. 12,&c. When they (the Samaritans) believed Phi- lip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptised, he continued with Philip, and wondered behold- ing the miracles and signs which were done. And when Simon saw that by laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying. Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him - -« - Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God - - - Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Acts, viii. 35, &c. Then Philip opened his mouth, and preached to him (the Ethiopian eunuch) Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the Eunuch said, See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptised? And Philip «aid, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou ttlayest. And he answered and said, / believe that Jems Christ is the Son of God (Comp. 34 1 John, V. 1.) - - - And they went clown both into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch, and he baptised him. Acts, x. 1, &c. There was a certain man in Cesarea, calfed Cornelius a detoiit man, and one that feared God with all his house, xvhich gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway While Peter yet spake these words (concerning Jesus the Saviour) the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord. Acts, xvi. 14, 15. And a certain woman, named Lydia, - - - which worshipped God, heard us ; whose heart the Lord had opened that she attetided* unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptised and her household, slie be- sought us, saying, If ye have judged 7?ie to befaith- ful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. Acts, xvi. 30, &c. And (the jailor) brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt * nfo(rf';jjfi>, believed or obeyed. See Parkhurst on ther word. 35 be saved, and thy house ; and they spake Unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house : and he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptised, he and all his, straightway. Acts, xviii. 8. Many of the Corinthians, hearing, be- lieved, and were baptised. Acts, xviii. 24, &c. Apollos was instructed in the way of the Lord ; and being fervent in the Spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, k?iow- ing 07ily the baptism of John. Acts, xix. l,&c. And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Co- rinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts, and come to Ephesus, and finding cer- tain disciples, he said unto them. Have ye re- ceived the Holy Ghost since ye believed ? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether tliere be any Holy Ghost*. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye bap- tised ? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him that should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them f, * " Whether the Holy Ghost he yet," i. e. given in his fniraculous operations. See Parkhurst's luminous explana- tion of this passage j njEvjuw, vii. f In the instance of Cornelius and his household, the mira« D 2 56 and they spake with tongues and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. Acts, xxii. 16. Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord *. Rom. vi. 3, 4. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ, were baptised into his deatli? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that, like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 1 Cor. i. 14. I thank God that I baptised none of you but Crispus and Gaius. 1 Cor. i. 17. Christ sent me, not to baptise, but to preach the Gospel. 1 Cor. X. 2. Our fathers were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meaf ; and did all drink the same spiritual drink ; for they drank of that spiritual rock which followed them ; and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 1 Cor. vi. 1 1. But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but 3'e are justi- fied, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the culous effusiort of the Spirit preceded baptism. In the Instance here recorded, another ceremony, by which the Holy Ghost was usually conferred, intervened between baptism and that effusion. * In the instance of Saul various promises made personally to him preceded baptism, which were confirmed, before he was baptised, by the miraculous restoratioa of his bodil/ sight. 37 Spirit of our God'^. 1 Cor. xii. 13 By one Spi*- rit are we all baptised into one bod^', whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all been made to driijk into oneSpiritf. Gal. iii. 27. For as many of^'ow^aiS have been bap- tised into Christ, have pat on Christ. Eph. v. 2&, Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the uof^d. Col. ii. 12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the ope- ration of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Tit. iii. 5, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Heb. x. 22. Having our hearts sprin- kled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water §. 1 Pet. iii. 21. The like figure whereunto baptism doth now save us (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 John, v. 8. There are three that bear witness on earth, the * It is not, I conoeive, certain that these words contain any reference to baptism. If they do, it is to be observed that the order of the blessings spoken of is inverted, since justification precedes sanctification. f The Apostle is speaking of Christ mystical, or his body the church, the members of which are all animated by his Spirit. J Not all the Galatians to whom he wrote, though all of them had been baptised. This Explains similar passages. § If this text be considered as referring to baptism, it is to be observed that the sprinkling, &c. or justification, precedes the corporeal washing. 1)3 38 Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. Does it appear from this set of texts that re- generation was, in the primitive church, con- temporaneous with baptism? Is it not rather evident that faith, real or feigned, always pre- ceded it ? Arid we know, from infallible autho- rity, " that whosoever belieyeth that Jesus is the Christ hath been born of God." REGENERATION. John, i. 12, 13. Buta? many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe Oft his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the fle^h, nor of the will of man, but of God. John, iii. 3, &c. Except a man be born again, he can- not see the kingdom of God. 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 bom of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must be born again. The wind blow- eth where it listeth, and thoii hearest the sound |;hereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born o/' the Spirit. John, viii. 39' Jesus said unto them. If ye were Abraham's seed, ye would do the works of Abraham. John, viii. 47. He that is of God (that is, a child of God: compare 39 iJohiif iii. 12), heareth God's words. Ye, there- fore, hear tliem not, because ye are not of God. Rom. viii. 14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Rom. ix. 8. They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise shall be counted for the seed. 1 Cor. iv. 15. In Christ Jesus I have begotten you, through (by) the Gospel. 2 Cor. v. 17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away ; behold all things are become new. Gal. iii. 7. Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith j the same are the children of Abraham. Gal. iii. £6. Ye are all (as many as have put on Christ, ver. 25) the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus. Gal. V. 6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by love; or (as chap. vi. 15), but a new creature. Eph. iv. 22 — 24. That ye put off the old man : and be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind : and that ye put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Col. iii. 9, 10, 11. Ye have put off the old man with his deeds ; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in know- ledge, after the image of Him that created him; where there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumci- sion nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free; but Christ is all and in all. D 4 40 James, i. 18. Of his oirn will begat he us, with the woi^d of truth. 1 Pet. i. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, ac- cording to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Pet. i. 23. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of in- corruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 1 John, ii. 29. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one who doth righteousness is born of him. Chap. iii. 9' Whosoever is born of God, doth not com- mit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he can- not sin, because he is born of God. Ver. 10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil : whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God ; neithqr he that loveth not his brother. Chap, iv, 7, 8. Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God ; he that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for God is love, Chap, v, 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. Ver. 4, 5. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world ; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our fai{h. Who is he that over- cometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Ver. 18. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not ; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not, 3 41 After reading this second class of texts, it will probably be considered by the reader as aa extraordinary circumstance, that St. John, the historian of our Lord's conversation with Nico- demus, should never have referred to that con- nexion between baptism and regeneration which that conversation is supposed by Dr. Mant to assert. That, in a long epistle or treatise, written on the subject of regeneration, and in which the new birth is so often introduced, a phrase which must have originated in that conversation, St. John should never have even alluded to the sa- crament of baptism, except in the mention of the three earthly witnesses to the divine record concerning Jesus and salvation by him. That neither St. John himself, in his Gospel or in his Epistles ; nor St. Paul, St. James, nor St. Peter, in their numerous Epistles, should have repeated so momentous a doctrine, though they have all mentioned the subject of regeneration ; nay, that they should all have ascribed the change thereby denoted to the instrumentality of another means of grace, viz. the word of God; and that, among all the varied evidences of a state of regeneration which St. John, in particular, has enumerated, baptism should have no place, though, were it the vehicle of this grace, it should be the only evidence: — this si- lence on the subject, independently of the argu- ments which the quotations produced afford to disprove any necessary connexion between the 42 sign and the thing signified, affords to my mind a moral certainty that Dr. Mant has mistaken the meaning of our Lord's words. But we proceed to another scriptural source of information. Analogy justifies a reference to the rites of the Jewish church, and especially to circumcision, in treating on this subject. Circumcision, under the Jewish dispensation, and baptism, under the Christian, are both to be considered as sacraments, or outward visible signs of inward spiritual grace. Both bear the character of initiatory ordinances, by which, in different periods of the church of God, and under differing circumstances, sinners have been admitted to the communion of the visible church. The outward visible signs in these two ordi- nances differ, but the inward spiritual grace is the same in both*. Col. ii. 11, 12. This is as- serted by Bishop Beveridge, as quoted by Dr. Mant, p. 26. And, indeed, if this be not al- lowed, the grand argument in favour of infant baptism is abandoned. Now, with respect to circumcision, we have apostolic authority for as- serting, that he is not a Jew who is one ontzcardlyi * Is it at all probable, that, if circumcision were, during the former dispensation, " the vehicle of regeneration," and therefore essential to salvation, the performance of this rite would have been postponed, by divine command, till the child became eigVitdays old, when it is well known how many infants die before they attain that age ? Such a doctrine seems nearly allied to that of reprobation in its worst form See the Extract from Bishop Hall, in the Appendix. 43 neither is that (the effectual) circumcision xvhicli is outward in the flesh ; but ^e'(only) is a Jew who is one inwardly^ and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter. Nor can I doubt that the Apostle had in his eye all ritual observances whatever, when he says, In Ch?ist Jesus neither circumcisian availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith, lihich xcorketh by love (Gal. V. 6); or, as he expresses himself, chap, vi. 15, but a new creature; expressions which differ only as cause and efiect; faith which zcork- eth by love, -being not the preparative to a new creation, but its effect. Hence it appears, that the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace were separable in the ordinance of cir- cumcision ; and therefore circumcised persons were addressed by St. Stephen as uncircumcised in heart, or destitute of that which was repre- sented by the external rite. Nor I conceive, reasoning from analogy, is the case different in the corresponding ordinance of baptism. Cir- cumcision was profitable to none but to those Avho kept the law. (Rom. ii. 15.) To others it was of no spiritual advantage. It was no better than uncircumcision. In like manner baptism is profitable to a penitent believer in the Gospel, as a sign and evidence of spiritual grace confer- red upon him. To an unbeliever it can bring no spiritual benefit. Abraham was justified before he was cir- cumcised, and received circumcision as a seal of 44 the righteousness of faith which he had, being yet wicircumcised. (Rom. iv. 1 — 12.) Christians are justified before they are baptised; for faith, a prcretjuisite to baptism, is the instrument of justification. Jll who believe are justified from all things. But justification and regeneration are never separated ; for St. John has said, TVho' soet'er believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God ; and our Thirteenth Article has connected the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spi' rii, as never separated from each other. To the Jews, as a nation, pertained the adop- tion and the covenant. The adoption spoken of was admission to an external relationship to God, in consequence of which Israel, as a na- tion, is addressed as his first-born, and Ephraim, even in an apostatized state, as his dear child. The visible Christian church also stands in an outward relationship to God, and all her mem- bers are by baptism brought under an external covenant. But this is, in both cases, to be dis' tinguished from a " death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness," effected by regenerat- ing grace in the heart. For, although to the Israelites, as a body, pertained the adoption and the covenants, yet they were not all Israel who were of Israel ; neither, because they were the seed of Jacob, were they all children; but in Isaac (adds the Apostle, quoting Gen. xxi. 12) shall thy seed be called : that is, they which are the children of the ficsh (although circumcised, as 45 Ishmael was, and as the unregenerate Jews were), these are not the children of God : hut the children of promise are counted for the seed. The general advantage of circumcision to the Jews was, Rom. iii. 2, that " to them were committed the oracles of God." The general advantage of baptism to the members of the visible Christian church is, that they are thereby admitted to the means of grace. They have a claim on her catechetical instructions, and an interest in the daily prayers which she offers, " that all who profess and call themselves Chris- tians, may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life." For, as there were those who said they were Jews^ but were not (Rev. ii. 9) ; so are there also those " who profess and call themselves Christians," but have no more of Christianity than the name. The baptism of the Israelites in the Red Sea, is not to be overlooked in this inquiry. The Apostle speaks thus on the subject, 1 Cor. x. ], &c. / would not that ye should be igiiorant^ bre- thren, how that all our fathers were wider the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were alt BAPTISED unto Moses in the cloud a?id in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meaty and did all drink the same spiritual drink : for they drank of that spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ, But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were o'verthrown iti 4& the wilderness. Their baptism was a type of Christian baptism. Their means of support in the wilderness were symbols of " the body and blood of Christ which are "oerily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's supper *." But wherein does the sacramental character con- sist? In the symbolic relation which both their baptism and ours, their bodily support by manna and water^ and ours by bread and wine, bear to spiritual benefits. But were all the Is- raelites who were baptised in the sea, partakers of regenerating grace? Did they all drink by faith of the rock Christ? No, by no means. Few, it may be feared, of the vast multitude were dead to sin and neiv-born to righteousness. Few spiritually discerned that which the manna and the rock represented. With many of them God was not well pleased; for they were ODerthrown in the wilderness. They failed, through unbelief, of entering into the promised rest. Would it not depreciate the regenerating grace of God, if it were said that all the multitude of the Israel- ites that came out of Egypt were, with few ex- * Comparat Paul us baptismum Israelitarum' veterum, quoip in nube et mari baptisatos fuisse dicit, cum baptismo Chris- tianorum, sicuti cibum eorum, hoc est ccelestem panem, cum pane quern Chr'istus nobis comedendum dedit, ut corporis sui ry'jui^oXov, in Dominica ccen^. Constat vero, baptismum veterara" Israelitarum, quern Apostolus nostro similem esse declarat,. tarn fuisse generalem, ut se ad omnes Israelitas - - - extenderitr '-Vitr, Obs. Sacr. torn. i. 316, 47- ceptions, made partakers of that blessing, but afterwards forfeited and lost it for ever ? I observed, when entering on these remarks,^ that Dr. Mant's quotations from the Scriptures appeared to me to fail entirely of proving his point. In Rom. vi. 3, 4, the Apostle is describ- ing the intent and meaning of the sacrament of baptism for the reproof of those who were walk- ing unworthily of their high vocation. He points out its symbolic reference, and what it is when accompanied by the inward spiritual grace which it represents. But he does not assert that all who are partakers of the outward sign, are also partakers of the thing signified thereby, nor can this be inferred from his words *. His ar-^ gument in this chapter turns on the obligation which arises from tlie profession made in bap- tism, to die to sin and live again unto righteous- ness. Happy would it be if all were in reality what they are in profession! On Col. ii. ISf, I refer, with the highest satisfaction to Bishop Davenant's Exposition, which, as the language of the two Epistles is similar, will also explain the passage from the Romans which we have just considered. Eph. ii. 26, which Dr. Mant has also produced as favouring his view of baptismal regeneration, seems to me to be a death-blow to his own cause. We are there said to be cleansed * See Dr. Fulke's note on these verses in the Appendisk No2II. + See Appendix, No. XHl. 2 4S with the xcashing of water by the Word. Is not the word the instrument, and the washing of water the accompanying evidence, the outward visible sign of the inward spi7ntual grace ? On 1 Cor. vi. 1 1, Dr. Mant comments, by saying that the " washing of baptism is men- tioned as the instrument by which the blessings of sanctification and justification are conveyed." Nothing is wanting to make this text appUcable to our author's purpose, but proof that tlie wash- ing mentioned by the Apostle means the wash- ing of baptism ; and that, supposing its reference to baptism, it is spoken of as tlie vehicle of the other blessing;s. As Dr. IVIant has not attempted to prove either of these preliminary points, I leave the propriety of his interpretation to stand or fall with the general issue of his argument. *' The use which is made of it is a gratuitous assumption, which needs not to be seriously con- futed." But to close this branch of the subject : it may be asked. If regeneration and baptism be inseparable ; if the former always accompany the latter ; if to baptise men be to regenerate them; would not our blessed Lord, whose grand object in coming into our sinful world was to regenerate that world, have employed himself, at least partially, in administering the all-important ordinance of baptism ? Whereas, no instance is recorded of his baptisi'jg a single individual. And though it is said, John, iii. 22> that " he 4gf tarried in Judea and baptised ;" this seems to he explained in the beginning of the following chapter, where it is asserted that "Jesus baptised not, but his disciples :"■— In this case, would St. Paul have said that God sent him not to bap-' tise, but to preach tlie Gospel? or vvoiild he have thavked God that he baptised none at Corinth but Crispus and Gaius? Let us change the term, and see how it will sound in our ears. God sent me not to regenerate men, but to preach the Gospel : I thank God that I regenerated none of you but Crispus and Gaius. Where now is- the Apostle's zeal for the glory of his Mastery i»nd his love for the souls of men ? But I pass on tothe second division of these" Remarks-. 2". I APPREHEND TIIAT THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IS, ON THIS POINT, AS ON Alt' OTHERS, IN PERFECT UNISON WITH THE HOLY SCRIP'- tURES ; AND THAT BAPTISMAL REGENERATION, IN DR. M ant's VIEW OF IT, IS NOT HER DOCTRINE. The XXVIIth Article teaches, unless I have' strangely mistaken the meaning of its language, a doctrine opposite to that which Dr. Mant niaintains. Tiiis Article, as our author justly* observes, " expressly sets forth the doctrine of th& Church concerning baptism.''' I have, therefore, a: fall license toappeal to it as decisive. "Baptism is notonly a sign of profession andamarkof diifer- eflce, whereby Christian men are discerned from E otiiers tliat are not cbiistened, but it is also a sign of regenei^ation or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive baptism rightly are grafted into the churcli ; the promises of for- giveness of sins, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, ai^e visibly signed and sealed : faith is coiifirmed, and grace increased^ by virtue of prayer unto God." Such is the doctrinal language of our Church on the subject in question, which Dr. Mant considers zs point' edly dindfolly to his purpose. Strange as it may appear, it seems to me pointedly and fully in op- position to the notion he is endeavouring to es- tablish. Baptism is a sign of jxgeneration, a seal to the promises of forgiveness and of adoptioyi. Certainly it is ; but a sign is not the thing sig- nified, nor is a seal to an instrument, nor even the instrument itself, the benefit conferred by that instrument. The Article proceeds on the supposition that tlie candidates for baptism have been before regenerated; that is, have before become dead to sin and alive by a new birth unto righteousness. It asserts that hi those who receive baptism rightly*, that is, who have the prerequisites to baptism mentioned in the Cate- chism, viz. repentance and faith, faith is con- FiRJviED, and grace increased, by virtue of prayer utito God; faith cannot be confirmed, unless it have previously existed ; nor can grace be in- CJ^emed, unless it have before been conferred. * The adverb rightly in this Article corresponds with th^ Vfoxd^worl/ii/j/ in the XXV th. 5i And these blessings are represented as obtained not " through the instrumentality of water," but " by virtue of prayer unto God." The per- son, therefore, receiving baptism is supposed by the Article to be previously a believer in Christ, and a partaker, that is, " a child, of grace." And we have already proved, that " he who believeth hath been born of God" (1 John, v. l); and a partaker of grace is certainly "a child of grace." In the XXVIth Article " the effect of the sacraments," of baptism, as well of the Lord's supper, is limited to " such as by faith and rightly do receive them." The spiritual effect of baptism is not common to all who are baptised. Those only " who have believed through grace," " have the promises of the forgiveness of sins, and of adoption to be the sons of God, visibly signed and sealed to them," personally considered. I cannot help using the emphatic words of Dr. Mant on the opposite side of the question : " It must be enough barely to quote this passage. It would be an insult on any man's understanding to attempt to make it clearer." P. 14. A similar argument may be drawn from Article XIII. though the Article is on another subject. It declares that " works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school authors say) deserve grace of congruity : E S 52 yea, rather for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." On Dr. Mant's hypothesis " the" (justifying) " grace of Christ, and the" (regenerating) inspi- ration of his Spirit, are contemporaneous with baptism, being always and exclusively confer- red " by the instrumentality of water." If this be so, then every candidate for baptism must be unregenerate, destitute of " the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit ;" and, conse- quently, the act of every candidate in offering himself for baptism is, according to the doctrine of the Article, unpleasant to God, cannot make '* the candidate meet to receive grace," but " has in it the nature of sin." " It does not spring from faith in Jesus Christ," which is an effect of regenerating grace; and " without faith it is impossible to please God." The same conclusion must be drawn from the Catechism. ** TVhat is required of persons to be baptised? Answer: Repentance^ whereby they for- sake sin; and faith, whereby they steadfastly believe the promises of God made to them in that sacrament^ Repentance, therefore, and faith may exist in an unbaptised person, and are required as necessar}*- qualifications for baptism. But " whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, hath been born of God." I John, v. 1. And every one who doth righteousness (a phrase of similar im- port with that of the Catechism, " Repentance 53 Nvhereby we forsake sin"), " hath'' also " been born of God." 1 John, ii. 29. What, indeed, are the previous qualifications required in persons to be baptised, but those in which the Church declares the inward and spiri- tual grace, represented in baptism, to consist? For what is rcpentmice but a death unto sin? and what is faith but the first symptom of a new birth unto ris:hteous7iess * ? And if these be required of persons, in order to their being bap- tised, they cannot beexclusively the consequences of baptism. Dr. IMant's supposition, that faitb and repentance may exist independently of rege- nerating grace, involves this absurdity, that the acts of life may precede the communication of life. For, if regeneration be, as the metaphor implies, the first communication of spiritual life to a soul before dead in sin, the symptoms of life must suppose its previous regeneration. Another argument may be drawn, by direct inference, from the excellent Catechism of our Church. It says, that by the inward and spiri- tual grace, represented in baptism, our state is changed; for, being born in sin and children of wrathj we are hereby made the children of grace. It recognises no intermediate state, no interval between a state of nature (that is, a state of * " Faith is the first principle of that communion between, the believer's soul and the Divine Spirit, on which the whole of our spiritual life depends." Bishop Horsleys Charge, imblished t>y the Societt/Jbr promoting Christian Knovdedge: e3 15* wrath) and a state of grace. Those who are not become " children of grace'* are, what they were at their natural birth, " in" a state of " sin and children of wrath." Now, if Dr. Mant*s view were correct, that all baptised persons are regenerate, and that no uubaptised person is so, it would follow that a penitent believer may be in a state of sin and wrath ; that St. Paul, for instance, during the three days that intervened between his conversion and his baptism, not- withstanding that he believed and prayed, was in a state of sin and wrath, while the Scripture has asserted, that " all who beliete, are justified from all things," and has promised that ^' what- soever we ask in prayer, believing, we shall re- ceive :" it will follow, that the twelve persons whom St. Paul found at Ephesus, though for an indefinite time they had been disciples^ had be- lieved, and had been baptised with John's bap- tism of repentance^ were in sin and children of wrath, till, by the Apostle's direction, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. It will also follow (to mention no more iwr stances) that Cornelius, though for an indefinite time he had been dewut, praying to God always ; though he \].?iA feared God and wrought righteous^ ness ; though h\s prayers and his alms had gone up for a memorial before God ; though, as we may safely gather from St. Pieter'S words, ver. S5^ his person had been accepted before God (for a §ihnei:'s works cannot be accepted till his person 55 has been justified. Art. XIII.): iiotwithstand*- ing all this, Cornelius, on Dr. Mant's hypothe- sis, must be considered to have been in a state of sin, and " a child of wrath," till St. Pi ter commanded him to be baptised in the name of the Lord. This will undeniably follow, if there be but two states, a state of wrath and a state of grace, and if in no case the state of grace commence before the reception of Christian baptism. The nature of the two sacraments of the Christian dispensation is essentially the same; i. e. each of them is " an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means * where- by we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof" Now, with respect to the sacra- ment of the Lord's supper, the Church has de- termined. Art. XXIX. that " the wicked and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth * In the case of infants, baptism is a means leading to the first communication of faith, and the primary reception of grace, so soon as the baptised infant becomes capable of receiving the one and of exercising the other ; as it intro- duces him into the visible church, wherein grace is con- ferred on those who seek it, and where *• faith cometh by ■hearing, and hearing by the word of God." In the case of adult baptism, " faith," before possessed, »' is confirmed, and grace," before comraunicated, " is increased by virtue of iprayer unti) God.** E 4 56 the sacrament * of the body and blood of Christ; yet in no case (?mllo jnodo) arx ihey partakers of Christ, but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the sign or sacrainait of so great a thing." Is there any reason to suppose that tlie Church meant to ascribe to one sacrament ?in efficacy ex opere operato, which she denies to the other? Would not this make a most essential difference in the nature of the two sacraments, of which her general definition is one and the same? Every communicant in our Church must ne- cessarily have been baptised; and every bap- tised person is, according to Dr. Mant's doc- trine, made a partaker of Christ. But our Church affirms, that " those who be void of a lively faith" (although baptised) " are by no •means partakers of Christ :" they are so in no sense or manner. In Art. XXV, it is stated that " the sacra- ments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession ; but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace and God's good will towards us, by which he doth w^ork invisibly in us, and doth jiot only quicken, but also strengthen and con- * The outward and visible signs are here, as in the Cate- chism, called the sacrament. So again, in the close of the Article, the sign or sacrament. Sign and sacrament are here synonymous. See also the Warning before the Communion;^ and the Exhortation at the time of its celebration. SI firm our faith in him." It will be obseja-ed, that both sacraments are the subject of tliis Article; so that what is here predicated of the one, is pre- dicated of the other also. They are mtuesses and signs of grace, not grace itself. To receive the testimony of ^z witness about spiritual things, and to understand so as to profit by a sign, requires spiritual discernment. But spiritual discernment supposes a previous new birth unto righteous- ^ness, for the dead have no power of discern- ment; and where this spiritual discernment has jio existence, no new birth has taken place, and .baptism cannot answer its spiritual purpose by being " a witness and sign of grace." The as- surance of grace and of God's good will towards us, with its quickening, strengthening, and confirming effect, depends on a previous state of heart, rendering it capable of receiving that as- surance. For, as a man may eat of the bread and drink of the wine in one sacrament, without .discerning the Lord's body ; so, in the other, tlie body may be washed in the laver of regenei^ation ,while the soul remains destitute of the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and consequently dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, in the conclu- sion of the Article, the Church warns us that /' in such only as worthily receive the same" (the Article speaks of both sacraments), " they have a wholesome efixjct : but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves damnation, as St. Paul saith." 58 All the ordinances of God require internal acts of the mind for the enjoyment of the inter- nal blessings they are intended to convey. The transgressor under the Mosaic law was required to bring his sacrifice, a sheep or a goat, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Lev. i. 3. He was then to lay his hand on the head of the sacrifice, confessing his sin, and, as it were, transferring his guilt to his victim, after which he was to witness its death. The ceremony was symbolical of repentance and faith, as required in all who would obtain forgiveness of sin ; and an absolute promise was annexed to the per- formance of the ceremony : " It shall be accept- ed for him, to make an atonement for him." But who will venture to say, that every one who complied with this ordinance, whether penitent or impenitent, resting in the opus operatum, or looking beyond it to the Lamb of God, whom the sheep or the goat represented, alike obtained forgiveness of sins, as pertaining to the con- science and the final judgment of God? It is true, the offerer obtained, by virtue of his typi- cal sacrifice, whether he were penitent or not, civil and ecclesiastical immunities and privileges. But " without faith it is impossible to please God." Abel was accepted as a regenerate be- liever, while Cain was rejected as an unregene- Tate unbeliever, though each brought his offer^ ing to the Lord. , The candidate for baptism in our Church js required to avow, as the indispensable condition of his admission to that sacrament, Jirstj his re- nunciation of the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh ; secondly^ his behef of all the articles of the Christian faith; and, thirdlij, his determination to keep God's holy- will and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of his life. This renunciation, faith, and determination, are, of course, pre- sumed to be sincere. Can a man then, who is un regenerate, that is, who is dead in sin and not new-borrt to righteousness, be possessed of this spirit of renunciation, faith, and obedience to God ? Of the carnal mind, that is, the unrege- nerate mind, it is asserted in Scripture, that "it js not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;" nay, that " it is enmity against God." But if no unregenerate man can honestly make these declarations, then the Church of England requires regeneration as a prerequisite to bap- tism, and consequently baptism is not, in her view, the exclusive instrument of regeneration. It may be asked, How then are the expres- sions quoted by Dr. Mant from the baptismal service of our Cliurch to be understood? I .concur in the explanation of them which is given by Bishop Bradford, in his sermon on " Baptismal mid spiritual regeneration^' which, till within the last year or two, was on the list of '-'the Society -for -promoting Christian Know- .60 ledge," as containing the sentiments of that vene- rable body on this controverted subject * ; that the baptismal services speak only of a baptismal regeneration, as distinct from a proper spiritual rcaencration. For what reason Dr. Mant has kept this sermon out of sight, while publishing his own, "at the request of the Salop District Committee of the Society for promoting Chris- tian Knowledge," is best known to himself; as is also the reason why the General Bpard of the Society in London has dropped the Bishop's ser- mon from its list of tracts, and has adopted and circulated Dr. Mant's opj)Osite view of the sub- ject. I shall only say, that I thank God most heartily for the fixed Liturgy, Articles, and ■Homilies of the Church of England. Dr. Mant's silence respecting Bishop Bradford's ser- mon is the more extraordinary, as he refers with disapprobation to Bishop Hopkins's view of the subject, which nearly corresponds with that of his brother prelate f- * The copy now before me is one of the seventh edition, printed in 1810. The following note is prefixed to it by the Society : " This seventh edition is published at a time when it is hoped that so judicious and scriptural a discourse may he of service to settle the minds of good Christians in some present disputes concerning baptismal and scriptural regene- ration." For the last two or three Reports, the tract does not appear on the Society's list. f I am glad to find that Bishop Bradford's sermon will not 1)6 forgotten, as *' The Church of England Tract Society'' 61 The metliod which Bishop Bradford takes in handling his text, viz. Tit. iii. 4 — 7, is, 1. To show why baptism is styled the washing of regeneration. 2. To inquire how it becomes a means whereby we are saved. 3. To show what the renewing of the Holy Ghost is, which St, Paul joins with the washing of regeneration,' 4. To show that the washixg of regenekatton MAY BE SEPARATED FROM THE RENEWING OF THE Holy Ghost * ; and that, if it be, the end for has republished the greater part of it, in a tract, entitled, " The Churehman's Reasons for bringing his Children to the baptismal Font." * Those persons who maintain that baptism and regene- ration are always and necessarily contemporaneous, the former being the instrument of the latter, are obliged to make a distinction which the meaning of the terms will not allow, between regeneration on the one hand, and conversion, a n€i» nature, a spiritual resurrection, the iieix man in Christ Jesus, a neui heart, a renewal in the spirit of the miad, the renewing of the Holy Ghost, &c. on the other ; making tlu; change, described in these latter phrases, to precede rege- neration. But surely all these modes of speaking describe that change which is efiFected by the power of God in the dis- positions of the soul of a fallen sinner, in order to qualify him for the service of God on earth, and for the enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance, of which change the ne'c birth is tlve commencement. The other phrases may include more than regeneration does, as they sometimes describe the whole process of sanctification, from the commencement of spiritual life to its perfected state in glorification. But the process must include its commencement in a new birth unto righteous- ness. Conversion comprehends the first interference of air mighty power in turning the soul from sin to God. Ib the 62 which it is used cannot be obtained, the latter \)eing absolutely necessary in order to our being commission given to the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts, xxvi. 18, instrumentally " to open their eyes, to tu7-n them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God ;" regeneration is omitted, unless regenerating grace be identi- fied with converting grace : and surely sinners turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, must be new born to righteousness. The same remark may be made on the promises relating to the Jews, Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 8cc. and Jer. xi. \9, 20. A new creation, and a netv creature, indicate the first act of creative power and its first effect. *' If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." 2 Cor. V. 17. " We arc Gad'^ voorkmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them." Eph. ii. 10. Of these good works re- pentance, faith, and love, are the first principles. Can he Ihen who is a neiv creature, with respect to whom old things we passed awa}'^, and all things are become new, who is created in Christ Jesus unto good works, repentance, faith, and love; be unregenerate, or not newborn to righteousness? A spiritual resurrection implies the primary communication of spiritual life. " God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us toge.ther with Christ (by grace are ye saved), and hath raised us up together" (with Christ), '* and made us sit together"' (with him) " in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. ii. 4, 5, 6 ; comp. Kom. vi. 3 — 5, and Col. ii. 12, IS. What then is the doctrine of these passages, but that, till men be quickened by the power of God, they are dead in sins, and consequently not new born to righteous- ness ; and that so soon as they are quickened they are rege- nerate ; for, can a soul be raised to spiritual life, and mani- fest that life by repentance, faith, and obedience, before it be born to God, or new born to righteousness i The other 6S samd, in the complete sense of that word. 5. To inquire how those persons who have had the washing of regeneration, but are not yet renew- ed by the Divine Spirit, may attain that reno- vation. This is tlie plan of the Bishop's sermon. And under his second division, after stating that baptism is a sign and a means of grace, he adds, ■' And hence we may learn by the way clearly to understand these expressions in our office of baptism, which some have objected against, for want of considering the true import of them. Those who are regularly baptised are born again, or regenerated into a new state, entered upon new relations, obliged to live new lives ; they are admitted into that body of which Jesus Christ is the head, and in which the Holy Spirit dwelleth, in order to quicken and sanctify, to phrases imply the same thing : the new man presupposes a neiv birth ; and a renewal in the spirit of the mind, or a new heart, must have a point where it begins. These phrases then cannot describe a State anterior to the new birth ; nor can repentance and faith, the acts of spiritual life, and tlig prerequisites to baptism, precede that interposition of Al- mighty grace, which is thus variously described. Dr. Wa- terland and Dr. Mant make faith and repentance to be pre- paratives to regeneration ; but they have not, either from Scripture assertion or the rationale of the subject, made good their point, a point on which their whole system de- pends. Indeed, the assumption is contrary both to Scrip- ture and to reason ; for he that believeth, and he that doth ipighteousness, are bora of God ; and as these are acts of spiritual life, that life uiu^t precede its own proper acts. 64. direct and influence all its members, which do ftot resist and refuse his conduct. This is bap^ iismal regeney^ation'' Afterwards, under his next division, the Bishop proceeds to distinguish be- tween this baptismal regeneration and spiritual regeneration, as called in his text the T'enewins: of the Holy Ghost. In his fourth division, in which he' shows that the washing of regeneration^ or baptism, may be separated from the renexchig oj the Holy Ghost j or spiritual regeneration, he says (I quote the passage, because it sheds light on the language' adopted by our Church), " It is tlie way of the Scriptures to speak to and of the visible mem-- bers of the church of Christ, under such appel- lations and expres-sions as may seem at first hearing to imply that they are all truly righ- teous or holy persons. Thus the Apostles style those to whom they write in general, saints * ; speak of them as sanctijied in Christ Jesus, chosen of God, buried with Christ in baptism^ risen agaioi ztith him from the dead, siftijig with him iw heavenly places ; and particularly St. Paul says, They were saved by the washing of regeneration, * " Sed in id nunc est inquirendum diligentius, qua ratione liberi fideUum sancti dicantur ab Apostolo, 1 Cor. vii. 14. Ubi primo observari cupiuius, non id velle Apostolum, liberos omnes, qui ex credentibus et Sanctis nascuntur, vere parti- cipes esse Spirilus Sanctiy et per eum inseri corpori ecclesiae:' Deque enim ulla fidelibus parentibus facta hujus prerogativae promissio est. Quin imo omni die contrarium ddcet eventu»«" Viiring. Ohs. Sacr. vol. i. p. 331. 2 65 &c» The reason of which is, that they were visibly, by obligation and profession, all this ; which was thus represented to them, tlie more effectually to stir them up and engage them to live according to their profession and obligation. But yet it is too evident from divers passages in their writings, and ex- perience has confirmed to us the same thing, that, both in their times and ever since, there have been many who have enjoyed Ihe washing of regeiitratiori, whose tempers and manners have demonstrated that they were not renewed by the Holy Ghost. Simon IVIagus was a noto- rious instance to tliis purpose, who, though the text tells us that he believed*', yet was soon after told by St. Peter, that he had neither part nor lot in the matter (namely, " the gift of the Holy Ghost), forasnuicii as his heart was not right in the sight of God ; and that he perceived he was in the gall of bitterness and iJie bond of iniguity. Acts, viii, 13, 21, 23. I take it for granted that I need not insist on any proof of this matter; but only further observe, that baptismal regeneration, when separated from the ixnewing of the Holy Ghost, must necessarily be ineffectual to tlie salvation of men's souls. St. Paul, in my text (Tit. iii. 4 — 7), joins them together, as concurring in the work of our * His faith must be distinguished from that " which worketh by love," and which is the effect of spiritual rege- neration ; a distinction which both the Scriptures and our Church authorize us to make. See the Homily of Faith. F 66 salvation; and our Saviour, in the place before cited, makes the being born of the Spirit, as well as of water, necessary to the enter'mg into the kingdom of God. St. Peter, in like manner, when he mentions baptism, as saving us, adds, to prevent all mistake, 7wt the putting away the filth of the flesh (not that merely), but the answer of a good conscience towards God; 1 Pet, iii. 21. That also is necessary to salvation; namely, when the baptised person's heart, and conse- quently his life, agree with his profession and obligation. What St. Paul says of the Jews, may be repeated with respect to Christians also, with a little variation of the words ; He is not a Christian who is one outwardly, neither is that re- generation (namely, such as will be effectual to salvation) which is outward in the flesh : but he is a Christian xvho is one inwardly, and regeneration is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. Rom. ii. 28, 29. Many of those who were not only baptised in the name of Christ, but also received many excellent gifts from him, and by virtue theieof p?vphesied, and had done many wonderful works, yet will be rejected by him at the last day, for having been workers of ini- quity." Matt. vii. 22, 23 *. Such were the sentiments of Bishop Brad- ford ; and such also not long since, and for a period during which seven editions of the Bishop's * I NBVER knetio ^/ou" w^tVort, never, at any time* 67 sermon were printed and sold, were the sen- timents of the venerable Society for promot- ing Christian Knowledge, who have charac- terized this sermon in the edition printed no longer ago than 1811, as judicious and scrip- tural, and have recommended it Jor settling the mitid 071 the subject of baptismal and spiritual re- generation. Such was the explanation given by Bishop Bradford, and adopted by them, of the expressions used in our baptismal service, that they refer to a baptismal regeneration not ne- cessarily connected with spiritual regeneration. The fact which Dr. Mant has stated, p. 14, did not " convince" the Bishop or the Society, " that it is by baptism, in the judgment of the Church of England, that a man is born of water and of the Spirit."" In these sentiments, and in thisexplanation of the Bishop, I concur; and if I therein err, 1 err in the company of Bishop Bradford, and in that of the venerable Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. Bishop Burnet's language on the subject is to the same effect. He observes that *' 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 follow upon the inward acts." As Dr. Mant has referred to Bishop Hopkins with some disapprobation, it is right that this excellent prelate should speak for himself. I shall therefore transcribe his own word& on the^ f2! 6S subject from his " Doctkine of the two sacra- ments." The text of liis first sermon, " on bap- tism,*' is Eph. V. 26, That he might sanctify and cleame it with the u- ashing of water by the word. After showing that this ordinance is appointed by Christ for our sanctification, and after hav- ing distinguished dedication into two kinds, the one external^ by which no cliange is wrought in the nature of the thing dedicated, but only a change in the relation and propriety of it; and the other internal^ wrought by God himself, when the Holy Ghost, by his eifectual opera- tion, endows men with those habits which en- able them to do him service; be adds, "there is also a twofold sanctification. There is an external, relative, or ecclesiastical sanctifica- tion ; which is nothing else but the devoting or giving up of a thing or person unto God, by those who have a 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 partaker of the divine nature, whereby he is inwardly qualified to glorify God in a holy life." The Bishop then proceeds to apply this dis- tinction to baptism, and to show how it is that baptism doth sanctify. In doing this he lays down these three following propositions : I. Baptism is the immediate means of our ex- iernal and relative sattctijication jmto God. 6^ " By this holy sacrament, all that are par- takers of itare dedicated and separated unto Him» " There are, if I may so express it, but two regiments of men : the one is of the world ; the other is of the church. And in one of these all mankind are listed and do march. The great captain and commander of the world is the devil, who is therefore called the prince and the god of this w^orld : but the great Captain of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ; called, there- fore, the Captain of our salvation, Heb. ii. 10; so that all who belong not unto the church of Christ are of the world, and march under Satan's ensign and banner : and all who are not of the world, but are taken out of it, belong unto the church, and are listed under Jesus Christ, as his soldiers and servants. " This church of Christ may be considered either as visible or invisible. The visible church of Christ on earth is a sort of people, who pro- fess the name of Christ and own his doctrine; joining together in a holy society and commu- nion 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 compre- hends hypocrites, and too many ungodly persons : yea, all those who have given up their names unto Christ, and make a visible profession of f3 70 his doctrine, though by tlieir lives and practices they deny it. And, therefore, the church, which is frequently in Soiipture called the khfgdotn of heave?!, is compared to a net, cast into the sea, gathering oj' eTery k'md of fish, both good and bad : Matt. xiii. 47. Both sorts are embraced in the bosom of this net ; and no separation can ordinarily be made, until it be drawn ashore at the day of judgment: and then the good shall be gathered into vessels, and the bad cast away; as it is there expressed. Again, the visible church is compared to a floor, wherein there is both chaff and wheat, Luke, iii. 17; and these will be mixed together, till the last determining and fanning day ; and then shall the wheat be gathered into the garner, and the chaff burnt np vi^ith unquenchable fire. ** The world, out of which this church of Christ is taken, is the whole company of those persons who belong unto the devil, the god of this world. " And this ecclesia malignantium, this Satani- cal church, may likewise be either visible or in- visible, as the church of Christ is. That which is visibl}' such, are all such who make no pro- fession of the faith of Christ, nor own his doc- trine and religion, without which there is no salvation attainable : so that they do visibly be- long to the church and kingdom of Satan, who are either trained up in heathenish idolatry, Ma- hometan stupidity, or Jewish obstinacy; or else 71 those who revolt from the Christian rehgion, and embrace any of these. Those who are of the world, but yet more invisibly, are all such persons, who, though they make a profession of the name and doctrine of Christ, yet, through hypocrisy or other sins, reject that Christ whom they profess; denying him in their works, whom they own in their words; maintaining no vital or spiritual communion with him. " From this distinction it follows : " 1. That all that are of the visible church of Christ Jesus, are taken out of the world ; so that it may be truly said of them that they are not of the world. *' I cannot, indeed, deny but too many, yea, possibly the major part of the church visible of Jesus Christ, may still appertain invisibly to the kingdom of the devil, which is the world, &c. " 2. Hence it follows, that all those who are members of the visible church, may truly be called saints, and members of Christ, and the children and people of God ; because, by bemg taken into the church, they are taken out of the world ; and so become God's portion and the lot of his inheritance." The Bishop proceeds to prove, by a variety of passages, that, both in the Old and New Testament, " sanctification and holiness are ascribed to those who were never otherwise sanctified than by their external separation from f4 72 the world, and profession of the doctrine of Christ." He then adds : *' 3. But to hrin<.v this matter home to our present subject of baptism : from all this it evi- dently follows, that those who are baptised may, in this ecclesiastical and relative sense, be truly called saints, the children of God, and members of Christ; and, thereupon, inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. " Doubtless, so far forth baptism is a means of sanctification, as it is the solemn admission of persons into the visible church; as it sepa- rates them from the world, and all false religions in it, and brings them out of the visible king- dom of the devil into the visible kingdom of Jesus Christ. For if all that are admitted into the visible church, are thereby, as I have proved to you, dignified with the title of saints and the children of God; then, by baptism, which is the solemn way of admitting them into the church, they may, with very good reason, be said to be made saints, the children of God, and members of 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 separation from Paganism and Judaism into fellowship with the visible church; but they are not saints by their separation from 7S wicked and ungodly men into a spiritual fellow- ship with 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 excommunication. Such a baptis- mal regeneration as this is, must needs be ac- knowledged by all that will not wilfully shut their eyes against the clear evidence of Scrip- ture, from which I have before brought plenti- ful proofs to confirm it. Yet let me add one more : and that shall be Gal. iii. 26, 27, Ve are ail the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus : i.e. by believing and professing his doctrine: For as many of you, saith the Apostle, as hwoe been baptised into Chinst, i. e. baptised into the reli- gion of Christ, and, in his name, have put on Christ, i. e. have professed him, and thereby put upon yourselves his name, being called Chris- tians : and this putting on of Christ in baptism, the Apostle makes a ground to assert them to be all the children of God. But still it must be re- membered, that this sanctification, regeneration, and adoption, conferred upon us at our admis- sion into the visible church, is external and ecclesiastical : and though it alone will suffice to the salvation of inftmts, because they are thereby as holy as their state can make them capable of; yet it will not suffice to the salva- tion of grown and adult persons, if they contra- dict it by the course of a wicked life : for our 74 Saviour hath told us, that the children of the kingdom shall themselves, many of them, be cast if ito outer darkness. Matt, viii. 12. " And thus much for the first proposition, that baptism is a means of our external and re- lative sanctification unto God ; because by it we are separated from the visible kingdom of the devil, and brought into the visible kingdom of Christ, and are devoted by vow and covenant unto the service of God. II. Another position is this, that baptism is not so the means of an internal and real sanctifica' tioUf as if all to whom it is administered, were thereby spiritually renewed, and made partakers of the Holy Ghost in his saving graces. *' Though an external and ecclesiastical sanc- tification be effected by baptism, ej: opere operaio, 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. " 1. For adult persons, we have a famous and uncontrollable instance in the baptism of Simon Magus, who believed upon 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 ordinance 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 75 a blackmoor when he came out of the laver, as he was before he entered into it. *' 2. For infants, it is not easy to be conceived what inward work can, in an ordinary manner, pass upon them. " And to feign an extraordinary and miracu- lous work there is no necessity, since their sal- vation may be safe without it, What the mira- culous grace of God is able to do, is not fit to be disputed. But, surely, we have very little reason to think that there are any real habits of grace infused into the souls of infants, since neither are they ordinarily capable of it, nor of exerting any spiritual acts b}'- it. However, 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 can- not thus affect the soul, nor infuse any gracious habits into it which itself hath not; neither can it work morally, by way of suasion and argu- ment, because infants have not the use of rea- son to apprehend any such. Again, if this bap- tismal regeneration be real, by the infusion 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? They who have the seed of God in them shall never sin unto death; and the perseverance of those who are inwardly and 76 effectually sanctified, is safe and certain : for, surely, true grace is saving, and true and saving grace is the effect of our election unto eternal life ; for whom he did predestinate, them he also called, Rom. viii. 20. And, therefore, I judge it unsound doctrine to aflfirm that baptism doth confer real sanctification upon all infants, as well as upon some adult persons, who are made par- takers of it. " But here may some say, ' If baptism doth not confer a real and internal resreneration on infants who partake thereof, how then is it that the Church hath appointed a prayer in the office of baptism, wherein we bless God that it hath pleased him to regenerate the baptised infant with his Holy Spirit?' " To this I answer, that the baptismal rege- neration of infants is external and ecclesiastical. They are regenerated as they are incorporated into the church of Christ : for, this is called 7^e- generation, Mat. xix. 28. Ye, which havejollowed me in the regeneration - - - - shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel : where, though some read the words otherwise, in the re- generation ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, mean- ing thereby the day of judgment and the last re- newing of all things ; yet I see no enforcing ne- cessity to alter the common and usual reading, ye which have followed me in the regeneration, i. e. in planting my church, which is the renewing of the world. And, therefore, the Apostle, 77 2 Cor. V. 17, saying, that old things are passed away all things are become new, is thought to allude unto the prophet Isaiah, Ixv. 17, Behold, I create new hea'oens, and a new earth : and the former shall not be remembered. And this state of the Gospel was, by the Jews, frequently called " the world to come :" and so, likewise, it is called by the Apostle, Heb. ii. 5. Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. " 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, called therefore /Ae washing of regenera- tion, Tit. iii. 5. " 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 ordi- nance ? " I answer : Because the whole oeconomy and dispensation 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 pub- lic institution. Infants, therefore, are in bap- tism regenerated by the Holy Ghost, because the Holy Spirit of God appoints this ordi- nance to receive them into the visible church, which is the regenerated part and state oi the world." 78 The two remaining positions which the Bishop has laid down, are, " III. That baptism is not so the means of sanctificatiouj as if 7ione would be inter^nallj/ and really sanctijiedy who are necessarily deprived of that holy ordinance. "IV. That baptism is an ordinary means ap- pointed by Christ, for the real and effectual sancti- fication of his church'' I have transcribed this long extract from this excellent prelate, in order that the reader may judge for himself, whether there be any appearance of that confusion of ideas which Dr. Mant has ascribed to his Lordship's views. I am unable to discern the least. That the interpretation which has been as- signed by the prelates who have just been quoted, to our baptismal offices, is the true inter- pretation, is, in my judgment, fully confirmed by a collation of these with the other offices. This mode of ascertaining the meaning of the compilers of our Liturgy is natural and un- exceptionable. It has been, in part, adopted by Dr. Mant; but he has not taken all the offices which bear upon the subject into his review, and the effect on his mind has been directly opposite to that which has been produced on mine. For it appears to me, that if the Church is supposed, from the language she uses, to state a necessary connexion between baptism and internal regene- ration, she must also be supposed, from similar 79 language, to state a necessary connexion in all similar cases which occur; between confirmation and growth in grace, in her " order of confirma- tion ;" between matrimony and grace, in her *' form for tlie solemnization of matrimony ;" between child-bearing and trust in God, in her office for " the churching of women ;" between the eucharist and true repentance, faith, &c. in her communion service ; and between death and glory in her burial office. In each of these of- fices some limitation is as much necessary as in the baptismal ; for Dr. Mant himself will not deny that some baptised persons who come to be confirmed, to be married, to return thanks after child-bearing, and to the Lord's table, and also some who are brought to be buried, have for- feited the grace of baptism, so that all are not alike to be considered as " faithful and beloved/' though we use the same language with respect to all. But there is one of our offices in particular not referred to by Dr. Mant, which appears to me to be conclusive as to the sense in which our Reformers have used the word regeneration in the baptismal offices ; and that is the office for " the ordering of priests." The Bishop is therein directed to address the candidates for the priest- hood, saying, " Receive the Holy Ghost,'' &c. adopting the same authoritative words which •' the great Bishop of Souls" used in ordaining his Apostles. The use of these words by our 80 bishops was objected to by the Puritans, because they did not understand the intention of our Reformers in the adoption of them. Their ob- jection was founded on a similar supposition re- specting them to that which Dr. Mant makes re- specting the baptismal service, viz. that inward spiritual grace is intended by " the Holy Gkost" But let us inquire what our Lord meant when he thus addressed his Apostles, and we shall justify our Church in retaining the same form in her ordinations. He did not mean the communica- tion of regenerating grace ; for this the Apostles had before received. He did not mean the com- munication of internal qualifications for the work of the ministry ; for they were not bestowed till more than forty days after this transaction, on the day of Pentecost. What then did he mean ? He meant, doubtless, as the judicious Hooker, in his Ecclesiastical Polity, has ably proved, the outward authority of the ministry, the commission which was to be transmitted by his ministers in succession from one to another down to the end of time*. This commission * Eccles. Polity, 1. v. § 77. This commission is in the Apostolic Epistles called x«'f/j & x<^^t<7fj.a.. See 1 Tim. iv. 14. Gal. ii. 9. Comp. Rom. i. 5. xii. 3. xv. 15, 16. 1 Cor. iii. 10. XV. 10. Eph. iv. 7, 11. Bishop Hopkins, in his Exposition of the Fifth Commandment, says, " This office'* (viz. that of the ministry ) " is by our Saviour himself called the Holy Ghost ; and ordination, how harsh soever the phrase may seem to be, is a giving of the Holy Ghost; not, indeed, either in the gifts or graces of it (which were afterwards plentifullj 81 the bishops of our church transmit when they say, *' Receive the Holy Ghost." It cannot be supposed that a bishop, whether popish or pro- testant, whether himself a partaker of divine influence or not, has the power of conveying in* ternal qualifications, in gifts or grace, for the work of the ministry, to all candidates for ordination, whatever be the state of heart, or moral character, of such candidates. Indeed, the words which follow theauthoritative grant plainly show what is intended by it. The whole com- mission runs thus: " Receive the Holy Ghost .for the office and work of a priest now commit- ted unto thee by the imposition of our hands. Whosesoever sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the word of God, and of his holy sacraments, in the. name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Now, if the outward commission for the mi- nistry, irrespective of any inward qualifications, be called by our Lord, and also in the ordination service of our Church, the Holy Ghost, because it is his prerogative to do that efficiently, which his ministers the bishops do instrumentaliy, we bestowed on them on the day of Pentecost), but only autho- rity to execute the ministerial function. Consult John, xx. 22, 23 : When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said. Receive ye the Holy Ghost : which Holy Ghost I take to be nothing else but their solemn mission to the ministry, &c. &c.'' G 82 may apply a similar rule of interpretation to our baptismal service ; nay, in order rightly to understand the language of the Church, we must apply it. Baptismal regeneration is admission into the visible church, and may, or may not, be accompanied with the renewing of the Holy Ghost ; as a reception of the apostohc commis- sion, called " the Ploly Ghost," is admission to the ministerial office, and may, or may not, be accompanied with those internal qualifications of the heart, which are essential to the faithful execution of it. In this sense I conceive that the word " regeneration" is used Mat. xix. 28 ; and that it corresponds with a phrase common among the Jews, viz. " the new age," or Gos- pel dispensation, called by the Apostle, Heb. ii. 6f " the world to come." But I pass on to further points of considera- tion. In the service for adult baptism, the sav- ing effect of that sacrament is suspended on re- pentance and faith. The exhortation used on such an occasion is in these words : " Doubt ye not, therefore, but earnestly believe that God will favourably receive these present persons, trulj/ repenting and coming unto him by faith; that he will grant them, &;c." The service is, there- fore, conditional, as to its internal and saving benefits. And there is no reason to suppose that the two services, that for infant and that for adult baptism, differ from each other in this most im- portant respect, viz, that the one is uucondi- tional and the other conditional. Indeed, the reverse is manifest from the doctrine of the Catechism ; in which, after the prerequisites to a beneficial participation of baptism, repent- ance and faith, have been stated, the following question and answer occur : Why then are in- fants baptised, when, by reason of their tender age, they jcannot perform them ? — Because they promise them both by their sureties j which promise when they come to age themselves are bound to perform. But suppose that they do not perform them ? Then surely no saving benefit follows from " the layer of regeneration." Adults, baptised in the cha- racter of penitent believers, are said, in the -thanksgiving after the baptism, to be " regene- rate and grafted into the body of Christ's church," the same words being used concerning thenij which are used concerning infants. Is it possible that this can be any other language than the proper and natural one of charitable hope*? * " Ego itaque censeo, simpliciter et absque circuitu dici posse, infantes et minores, sates parentibus vere in Christum credentibus, quamdiu rationis suae administrandse incapaces sunt, in parentibus suis, vel in ecclesia credentium, in cujus communione parentes ipsorum hactenus vixerunt, censeri, atque adeo jure de iis prjesumi, qiuimdm contrarium non li- quet, eos divinse gratiae consortes, et inter membra mystici corporis Christi reputandos esse. Quod si ^dmittatur : quis iis negabit sacramentum gratise, quo communioni sanctorum initientur, modo id sacramentum illius sit naturae, ut illius re- cipiendi capaces sint ? Cujus sane naturje est baptismus." Vitring. Obs, Sacr» torn. i. p. 325. G SI 84 The language of the confirmation office, and that of the collect for Christmas-Day, may be understood in the same manner. The Church cha- ritably supposes that those who come voluntarily to take on themselves their baptismal vows, and who declare in the house of God on so solemn an occasion that they do so, and this after instruction and examination by their minister, are savingly regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and, consequently, have receiv'cd the forgiveness of all their sins. I know not how her confirmation office could with any propriety avoid such a presumption. And she teaches her members, in her collect for Christmas-Day, to acknowledge with thankful- ness the grace she supposes them to have re- ceived, and to make it the ground of supplication for further blessings. In like manner she puts into the mouths of all her worshippers the lan- guage of penitence in the confession, and that of faith in the creed; yet every minister in her communion must know, if he be at all convers- ant with the spiritual state of his parish, or even from cursory observation, that there are some impenitent and unbelieving persons in his con- gregation. The guilt of using language which accords not with the feelings of the heart, lies not with the Church, but with the persons who so use it. The Society for promoting Christian Kno-wledge, in their former editions of the Directions for a devout Behaviour in public Worship, prefixed tQ their Prayer-books, called 85 the Collect for Christmas-Day, " a -prayer for regeneration." I conceive that its title, in its present altered form *, expresses the meaning of the compilers of our service. But whilst I say this, I am far from thinking that much may not fairly be said, to prove that the petition of the collect in question is prospective. Similar con- structions occur in our services, where a pro- spective sense is necessary. " Graciously hear us that we thy servants, being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee." Prayer against persecution. — " Grant that thy Church, being always preser%^ed from Jalse apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors." Collect for St. Mat- thias's day. — " O send thy word of command to rebuke the raging winds and the roaring sea ; that we, being delivered from this distress, may live to serve thee." Prayer to be used in storms at sea. But to pass by this, the Collect for the Cir- cumcision appears to me to be a pra3^er for that death unto sin and new birth unto righteousnesSy that regeneration of the Holy Spirit, which, * In the edition of the Directions of 1812, it stands thus, ** Renovation, a Prayer for it." It is important to notice, that the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge are thus changing the language of their tracts on essential points of divinity ; a matter of very grave consequence. See Appen- dix, last No. — See Practical Essays on the Liturgy, vol. i, p. 364, &c. g3 8^ as I am now contending, our Churcli does not consider as invariably bestowed in baptism. " Grant us the true circumcision of the spirit y that, our hearts and all our members being: niorr tified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey tliy blessed will." Surely thi^ petition is a prayer for that inward and spiritual grace, of which baptism is the sign and seal, iinder the New Testament, as circumcision was under the Old * The language of our Homilies, to which we next proceed, is decidedly such as to discoun- tenance the position of Dr. Mant. Observe the manner in which divine life in the soul is described : " Faith maketh us to please God, to live with God, and to be the children of God. Faith giveth life to the soul ; and they be as much dead to God that lack faith, as they be to the world whose bodies lack souls." P. 29 and 38, Oxford edition, 1810. Mark, again, how the ungodly and the righteous are delineated. " Alas, thinketh this carnal man, shall I now depart for ever from all my honours, &c. But (everlasting thanks be to Almighty God for ever) there is never a one of all these causes, no, nor yet they all to- gether, that can make a true Christian man afraid to die (who is the very member of Christ, the temple of the Holy Ghost, the son of God, and ♦ See Christian Otiserver, Nov. 1815. 87 the very inheritor of the everlasting kingdom of heaven)." P. 74, 76. Let the reader ask himself, whether both the carnal and the true Christian man, here described, are not supposed to have been equally baptised. The inference is, I think, obvious. Notice, in the next place, the manner in which Cliristians are exhorted to good works. " The life which we Hve in this world, good Christian people, is of the free benefit of God lent us, yet not to use it at our pleasure, after our own fleshly will, but to trade over the same in those works which are beseeming them that are become 7iew creatures in Christ. These works the Apostle calleth good works, saying, We arc God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God hath ordained, that we should walk in them." P. 202. Is there any reference to baptism in this passage; and yet what is this new creation, but regeneration? On the sacraments our Church thus speaks: " To know what the sacraments be, St. Augus- tine teacheth us ; writing to Bonifacius on the baptism of infants, he saith. If sacraments had not a certai?i similitude of those things whereof they be sacraments, they should be no sacra- ments at all. And of this similitude they do, fo|- the most part, receive the names of the self- fame thing they signify. By these words of St. Augustine it appeareth, that he alloweth the common description of a sacrament, which is, P 4 that it is a visible sign of an invisible grace ; that is to say, that setteth out to the eyes, and other outward senses J the inward woiking of God's free mercy, and doth, as it were, seal in our hearts the promises of God. And so was cir- cumcision a sacrament, which preached unto the outwai'd senses the inward cutting away of the foreskin of the heart, and sealed and made sure in the hearts of the circumcised the promise of God, touching the promised seed that they look- ed for. To administer a sacrament is by the outward word and element to preach to the re- ceiver the inward and invisible grace of God/* P. £96, 297, 300. The fair deductions from such language are surely unavoidable. The effects of our Saviour's birth are thus admirably set forth : " But after he was once come down from heaven, and had taken our frail nature upon him, he made all them that would receive him truly and believe his word, good trees and good ground, fruitful and pleasant branches, children of light, citizens of heaven, sheep of his fold, members of his body, heirs of his kingdom, his true friends and brethren, sweet and lively bread, the elect and chosen people of God. St. Paul to Timothy*, the third chapter, We were, saith he, in times past, un- wise, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in hatred, envy, malicious- * It should be, Titus. 89 ness, and so forth. But after the loving kmd ness of God our Saviour appeared towards man- kind, not according to the righteousness that we had done, but according to his great mercy he saved us by the fountain of the new birth, and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he poured on us abundantly, that we being once justified by his grace, should be heirs of eternal hfe, through hope and faith in his blood *." P. 344 and 345. Again, in the Sermon on the Resurrection, we have these words : " If these, and such other heavenly virtues, ye evince in the residue of your life, ye shall show plainly that ye be risett with Christ, and that ye be the heavenly children of your Father which is in heaven ; from whom, as from the giver, cometh these graces and gifts." P. 37^. Once more : " St. Paul testifieth that, al- though the people were partakers of the sacra- ments under Moses, yet for that some of them were still worshippers of images, &c. God overthrew them in the wilderness ; and that for our example; that is, that we Christians should take heed zve resort unto our sacraments with ho- liness of life, not trusting in the outward receiving * This quotation is nearly according to the Old Bible translation. In the edition by the Queen's printer, 1599, there is this annotation on the passage : " He confirmeth ^gaine the former exhortation by propounding the free bene- $t ofour regeneration, the pledge 'whereof is our baptisme." of theriiy and infected with corrupt and uncha- ritable manners." P. 381. But not to multiply quotations, let the pre- ceding extracts be connected with the following language of the Homily concerning the Coming of the Holy Ghost : " But where the Holy Ghost worketh, there nothing is impossible, as may further also appear by the inward regene- ration and sanctification of mankind. When Christ said to Nicodemus, Unless a man be bom anew, of water and of the Spirit, he cannot en- ter into the kingdom of God, he was greatly amazed in his mind, and began to reason with Christ, demanding how a man may be born when he is old? Can he enter, saith he, into his mother'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 truer whereas, otherwise, if he had known the great power of the Holy Ghost in this be-^ half, 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 rather take occasion thereby to praise and glorify God. For, as there are three several and sundry Persons in the Deity, so have they three several and sundry offices proper unto each of them : the Father to create, the Son to re- dee rn, the Holy Ghost to sanctify aqd regent 3 9i rate. Whereof the last, the more it is hid from our understanding, the more it ought to move all men to wonder at the secret and mighty woi^k^ ing of God's Holy Spirit, which is within us. For it is the Holy Ghost, and no other thing, that doth quicken the minds of men, stirring up good and godly motions in their hearts: That which is born of the flesh, saith Christ, is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. As who should say, Man of his own nature is fleshly and' carnal, corrupt and naught, sinful and disobev dient to God, without any spark of goodness in him, without any virtuous or godly motions, only given to evil thoughts and wicked deeds. As for the works of the Spirit, the fruits of faith, they proceed only of the Holy Ghost, '^ho is the only worker of our sanctification, and maketh us 7iexv men in Christ Jesus. Such is the power of the Holy Ghost to regenerate men, and, as it wei^e, to brijig them forth anew, so that they shall be nothing like the m.en that they were before. Neither doth he think it sufficient" inwardly to work the spiritual and new birth of iffian, unless he do also dwell and abide in them.'* P. 285, and 290. Is there any thihg here said pf baptism as the exclusive means of regenera- tion ? Is not the new birth described as coii-^ sisting in the Holy Spirit's quickening, stirring up, &c. the minds of men, and as issuing after- wards in his dwelling in them? Does not Dr. Plant's hypothesis tend to controvert and over- 9« tiirow all the meaning and force of the varied and determinate language of our Homilies in the above extracts? Having thus made a sufficient appeal, as I conceive, to the Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies of our Church, in reference to the point at issue, I cannot help adding, that it appears to me to be more than unkind in Dr. IVIant, to charge those who differ from him on this subject with HERESY, the highest ecclesiastical crime which can perhaps be committed*. In bringing this charge of heresy our author almost imchurcheSy if I may use the term, the Church of England; since, for a long succession of years, her arch- bishops, bishops, and clergy, as members of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, have joined in this heresy, by the publication and circulation of Bishop Bradford's sermon ; and are still circulating numerous books and tracts, containing statements in direct opposi* tion to the new dogmas of Dr. Mantf. And it will hereafter appear, that her reformers and a succession of prelates, before as well as after the origin of that Society, have been involved in the same guilt. The case which our author has stated, p. 49, 50, makes as strongly against that Society, and all our prelates, who have been its members, as against the Methodists, or " the self' denominated evangelical clergy." In considering Dr. Mant's references to the - * Titus, iii. 10. f See Appendix, last division. 93 Articles of our Church, which constitute our standard of doctrine as churchmen, let the reader remember that the question at issue is, whether baptism, the outward visible sign of an inzvard spiritual grace; and that grace, which is REGENERATION, or a death unto sin aiid a new birth unto righteousness ; be ever separated from each other; and he will, I think, perceive how little those references are in favour of Dr. Mant's assertion. In reviewing also the quo- tations from Scripture, which our author has made, and on which he has reasoned, the point at issue should be kept distinctly in view. The question is not, whether baptism be an outward visible sign or seal of an inward spiritual grace; on this there is no dispute; but, whether that inward spiritual grace, which is " a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness," always accompany the external rite, and be never com- municated independently of that rite. Perhaps the reader will think, on a close examination, that Dr. Mant's texts do not settle the point in his favour. It should also be remembered, that the Prayer Book, consisting of the Liturgy and Ar- ticles, is to be taken as a whole, one part ex- plaining another. Here, as in the Scriptures, •we are to " compare spiritual things with spiri- tual," in order to elicit the true meaning of any part. And, surely, if there be any apparent . discrepancy in the different parts, a final refer- ^4 ence is to be made, on points of doctrine, to the Articles which were drawn up for the ex- press purpose of settling differences of opinion, and which are solemnly subscribed by every clergyman, as containing his own creed. The language used by Bishop Beveridge, which Dr. Mant has quoted, appears to be in unison with his own views ; but let the follow- ing passages, from the Bishop's Private Thoughts, be duly considered, and it will be found, that though, when treating formally of baptism, he connects regeneration with the administration of it, yet he never intended to teach that spi- ritual regeneration, the new birth which our Lord speaks of, invariably accompanied it. Art. X. " / believe, that as God entered into 41 coveiuint of grace with us, so hath he signed this fovenant io iis by a double seal, baptism and the .Loi ds supper. " As the covenant of works had two sacra- ments, viz. the tree of life, and the tree of the knoxdedge of good and evil; the first signifying and sealing life and happiness to the perform- ance, the other death and misery to the breach f)f it : so the covenant of grace was likely sealed with two typical sacraments, circumcision, and the passover; the former was annexed at God's iirst making his covenant with Abraham's per- son, the other was added at his fulfilling th^ promises of it to his seed or posterity, which were therefore styled " the promised seed." But 9S these being only typical of the true and spiritual sacraments which were afterwards to take place upon the coming of the Messiah, there were then, in the fulness of time, two other sacra- ments, substituted in their stead, viz. baptism and the supper of the Lord. And these sacra- ments were both correspondent to the types by which they were represented. "As to the first, viz. circumcision, whether I consider the time of conferring it, or the end of its institution, I find it exactly answers to the sacrament of baptism in both these respects. For, as the children under the law were to be circumcised in their infancy, at eight days old; so are the children under the Gospel to be cir- cumcised in their infancy too. And as the principal thing intended in the rite of circum- cision was to initiate or admit the children of the faithful into the Jewish church ; so the CHIEF DESIGN OF BAPTISIVI NOW, IS TO ADMIT THE CHILDREN OF SUCH AS PROFESS THEMSELVES CHRIS- TIANS INTO THE CHURCH OF Christ. And, foF this reason, I btlieve, that, as under the Old Testa- ment, children had the grant of covenant-privileges a}id church-memhership, as really as their parents had ; so this grant was not repealed, as is inti- mated Acts, ii. 39, but further confirmed in the New Testament, in that the Apostle calls the children of believing parents holi/y 1 Cor. vii. 14; >VHICH CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD OF A REAL AND : inherent, BUT ONLY OF A RELATIVE AND CX>VE- 96 is^ANTED HOLINESS, by viitue of which, belug" born of beheving parents, themselves are ac- counted in the number of believers, and are, therefore, called /?o/j/ children under the Gospel, i?i the same sense that the people of Israel were called ' a holy people under the law, Deut. vii. 6, and chap. xiv. 2, 21, as being all within the co- venant of grace, which, through the faith of their parents^ is thus sealed to them in their bap- tism. Not that I think it necessary, that all parents should be endued with what we call a saving faith, to entitle their children to their privileges (for then none but the children of such who have the Spirit of Christ truly implanted in them, would be qualified to partake of the covenant); but even such who, by an outward historical faith, have taken the name of Christ upon them, are by that means in covenant with God, and so accounted holy in respect of their pro- fession, whatever they may be in point of prac- tice. And if they are themselves holy, it follows in course that their children must be so too, they being esteemed as parts of their parents, till made distinct members in the body of Christ ; or, at least, till they come to the use of their reason, and the improvement of their natural abilities," Let the following extracts from his Sermons be likewise considered. " The saints and servants of tlie Most Hioh are begotten again of him : * Blessed be the God 97 * and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, * according to his abundant mercy, hath begot- * ten us again.' But how can this be? As Nicodemus said unto our Lord, * How can a * man be born when he is old? Can he enter a * second time into his mother's wombj and be * born ?' John, iii. 4. But our Saviour resolves the doubt, saying, * Except a man be born of * water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into * the kingdom of God.' Ver. S. The original word is of the same signification with that in my text; there it is ysw/i^slg uvoo, here dvoiycv ytjcrag, and may be equally rendered either be- gotten or born; the one necessarily supposing or following upon the other. How this won- derful work is effected, is past our reach to ap* prebend ; we know not how we were formed at first, much less how we are born again ; only in general we may observe, that all men, that proceed naturally from the first Adam, are con- ceived and born in sin, their nature is corrupted and depraved, so that they are prone of them- selves to do evil, and unable to do any thing that is truly good ; but when a man believes in Chiist, the second Adam, and so is made a member of his body, he is quickened and ajiimated by his Spirit, U^hich being the principle of a new life m him, he thereby beco7nes a new creatuke, ano- ther kind of creature from what he was, aiid there- fore is properly said to be born again - - - This is what the Apostle means, where he saith, ' If any H 98 * man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old * things are passed away, behold all things are ' become new.' His old false imaginations, unruly passions, and inordinate desires of the things of this world, are all passed and gone ; and in- stead of them, 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 before he was to vice ; and all by means of the new spirit that is in him, whereby he is made a new man, •which is as different from the old as that is from a beast - - - ; and whereas other men are born only of the flesh, such an one is regene- rate, or horn again of the Spirit ; and so there is the same difference between him and them, as there is between spirit and flesh, according to that remarkable saying of our blessed Saviour, * That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and * that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' John, iii. 6. For every thing being of the same nature with that from whence it proceeds, as. they who are born, as all men by nature are, of the flesh, are carnal and sensual, so they are carnal and sensual, like the flesh they are bora of; so they who are born again y being then born of the Holy Spirit of God, they are therefore made holy and spirit ual, of the same nature w']t\\ Him from whom they receive their ?iew birth.'] Bishop Beveridge, Sermon lxxui. vol. i. p. 609*- edit. 1720. 99 ** By virtue of which mediation he (our Lord and Saviour) sends down his Holy Spirit upon all that BELIEVE in him, to regenerate or beget them again, and make them the children of God." P. 611. " Yet this love hath the Father for all that believe in his Son Jesus Christ, for they are be- gotten again of God." Id. *' Who then would not be of the number of these blessed souls ? Who would not be rege- nerate and made a child of God, if he might? j^nd who may not, if he will ? Blessed be G od, wiB are all as yet capable of it: for, now that Christ is risen from the dead and * exalted at ' the right hand of God, to be a Prince and a * Saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of ^ sins,' if we do but apply ourselves to him, and believe and trust on him for it; his Father will be our3 too; he will beget us again in his like- ness, and admit us into the glorious liberty of his own children." Page 612. " But what it is properly to be the sons of God, is next to be considered. And we need not go far for the understanding of it, having it explained in the words following my text, * Being born, not of blood, nor of the will of the ' flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God ;' that is, they are the sons of God, not in a carnal, but in a spiritual sense by spiritual rege- jTERATioN, through the mighty power and effi- cacy of the Holy Ghost, renewing the spirit of H 2 100 their mincb, and so infusing into them a ne\r principle of hfe, wherehy they become ncxo creatures . And all this must be ascribed unto Christ, for it is he who gives this power to become the sons of God, to those who receive him ; it is he that gives them that Holy Spirit, whereby they are regenebate and horn of God ; as we learn from the Apostle, saying, * That the * washing of regeneration and the renewing of * the Holy Ghost is shed on us abundantly * through Jesus Christ.' Tit. iii. 5,6. - - -. From ill which it appears, that the Holy Spirit of God is given to none but those that believe, and to all that do so, and therefore also because they do so. Hence it is, that, as St. John expressly tells U6, * Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the * Christ, is hmm of God; because, by his believ'mg in Jesus Christ, he receives the Spirit of God, whereby he is regenerate and horn again qfhifnJ" Sermon lxxxi. vol. ii. p. 32, 3S. Dr. Islaut quotes also the authority of Bishop Jeremy Taylor; with what success, let the fol- lowing extracts testify. " The reason of this is a sad condemnation to such persons; they have not yet entertained the Spirit of God, they are in darkness ; thev WERE washed in WATER, BUT WERE NEVER BAP- TISED WITH THE Spirit ; for these things ' are * spiritually discerned.' They would think the preacher rude if he should say, they are not Christians, they ^re not withia the covenant of 101 the Gospel : but it is certain that the spirit of manifestation is not yet upon them ; and that is the first effect of the Spirit whereby we can be called sons of God or relatives of Christ. If we do not apprehend and greedily suck in the precepts of this holy discipline, as aptly as mer* chants do discourse of gain, or farmers of fair harvests, we hca-e 7iothing hut the name of Chris- Hans; but we are no more such really than mandrakes are men, or sponges are living crea- tures." Bishop Jeremy Taylor's Sermons, vol.ii. p. 4, edit. 1807. " If the Holy Ghost be not come upon you, to gTea,t purposes of holiness, d\\ other pretences are vain, ye are still in the flesh, which shall never inherit the kingdom of God." P. 7. " The great effect of them (the effluxes of the Holy Spirit) is this, that as by the acts of the spirits of darkness, and our own malice, our souls are turned into j^e^A , and animali§'^ homo is the same with carnalis - - - : so, on the other hand, by the grace of God and the pro- mise of the Father, and the influence of the Holy Ghost, our souls are brightened into spirit, and transformed into a rtexv nature . As soon as the tyrant isin is overcome, and a new heart is put into us - -- instantly we have a new name given unto us, and we are esteemed a new creation; and not only changed in manners, but we have a nen^ nature within us. The Spirit «- - r is'a principle infused into us by God, when h3 102 we become his children, whereby we live the life of grace, and understand the secrets of the kingdom, and have passions and desires of, things beyond and contrary to our natural ap-^ petites, enabling us, not only to sobriety, which, is the duty of the body; not only to justice, which is the rectitude of the soul ; but to such a, sanctity as makes us like to God. For so saith the Spirit of God, ' Be ye holy, as I am' , which, because it cannot be a perfection of de-. grees, it must be in the likeness of that nature which God hath g'wen us in the new birth - t - partakers of a divine nature; that is, of this new and godlike nature, given to e\ery person that SERVES God, whereby he is sanctified and made the child of God, and framed into the likeness of Christ - - - and it remains upon all good men during their lives, and after their death - - - and by this God's sheep, at the day of judgment, shall be discerned from the goats." p. 24—27. *' The purpose of this discourse is this, that, since the Spirit of God is a new nature and a tiew life put into us, we are thereby taught and enabled to serve God by a constant course of holy living---. If jsk true ^here is flesh and blood in every regenerate man, but they do not both rule; the flesh is left to tempt, but not to prevail. And it were a strange condition if both the. gojdly SiwA ungodly were captives to fiWi?/"* And, therefore, whosoever find great 105 sins to be unavoidable are in a state of death and reprobation'' P. S3 and 34. " The sum is this ; an animal man, a man under the law, a carnal man (for, as to this they are all one) is sold under sin, he is a servant of corruption, he falls frequently into the same sin into which he is tempted - - - - he lives in the regions of sin, and dies and enters into its por- tion. But a sp'mtuat man, a man that is in a state of grace, who is born anew of the Spirit^ 'that is, REGENERATE by the Spirit of Christ, he is led by the Spirit, he lives in the Spirit, he does tile work of God cheerfully, habitually, vigorously, &c. &c." P. 36. It is surely hardly necessary to observe, after the above extracts, that neither Bishop Beveridge nor Bishop J. Taylor considered bap- tism and regeneration as necessarily connected with each other. - With regard to our author's quotations from our Reformers, Ridley and Latimer, and that from King Edward's Catechism, they do not app^r to me to bear upon the question. Let the quotation, for instance, from Bishop Ridley, ^.' 37, be compared with the XXIXth Article of our Church, and the fallacy of its application in favour of Dr. Mant's hypothesis will be appa- rent. The episcopal martyr, as cited by Dr, Mant, says, " Js the body is nourished by the bfead and wine at the communion, and the soul II 4 104 by grace and spirit with the body of Christ j eve?t6o, in baptism, the body is washed with the visible w^ater, and the soid is cleansed from all filth by the invisible Holy Ghost." This com- parison shows, that Bishop Ridley and the other Reformers considered the efficacy of the two sacraments as resting on similar grounds, and that they did not attribute to the one sacrament what they did not attribute to the other also. And it will be remembered that the nourishment of the soul in the Lord's supper depends on the exercise of faith in Christ, and does not neces- sarily follow frpm eating and drinking the sa^ cramental elements, as our XXIXth Article^ and St. Paul whom it cites, have positively as- serted. Nor, I conceive, are the venerable Latimer's words more to Dr. Mant's purj)ose. He explains himself when he says, " Now this sacrament qf baptism is a thing of great weight ; for it ascer- tabicth mid assureth us that like as the water washeth the body and cleanseth it, so the blood qf Christ, our Saviour cleanseth and was h^eth it jfrom alljilth and imclcanness of sins'' The spiritual ef- fect is attributed to the blood of Christ; and this, as we learn from Scripture, is applied for this purpose by faith. Baptism represents its efficacy. It is the outward and visible sign of this inward and spiritual grace. Similar are the, Vt'ords of King Edward's Catechism, which Dr. 105 Mant has also produced : " Baptism doth re- present 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 chuich, received into the communion of saints. For water signijieth tlie wSpirit." Surely there is nothing in this quotation relative to any neces- sary connexion of cause and effect between baptism and regenciation. The sentiments of the Judicious Hooker on the point at issue appear in the following- pas- sage: Eccles. Polity, Book V. Section 57 : Sa- craments " are not physical, but moral instru- ments of salvation, duties of service and wor- ship ; which, unless we perform as the Author of grace requireth, they are unprofitable; for all receive not the grace of God, which receive the sacraments of his grace." Dr. Mant should have added this passage to that which be has quoted, - in order to give a full view of the sentiments entertained by this celebrated divine, whose name and writings are most deservedly held in the highest estimation by the members of the Church of England. This passage is supported by the inference which must necessarily be drawn from the whole tenour of his discourse ** on the certainty and perpetuity of faith in the ic^lect.'' For, if the faith of God's elect cannot >f;wholly and finally fail, then those who live and di? in impenitence and unbelief were never par- takers of spiritual regeneration, although bap- 105 tised arid graftedinto the body of Christ's vi- sible church. " They which are of God do not sip; cither in this, or in any thing, any such sin as doth quite extinguish grace, — clean cut them off from Jesus Christ; because the seed of God abideth in them, and doth shield them from receiving any irremediable wound *.'* The view of baptismal regeneration which has been adopted in these pages, corresponds, if I mistake not, with that of all the reformed churches, whether Lutheran or Calvinisticf ; the former of which churches is in some measure sanctioned by the venerable Society for pro- moting Christian Knowledge. At least ministers ordained in the Lutheran church, are employed by that Society in its missionary stations. It seems extraordinary, therefore, that the Society should sanction the brand of heresy affixed by Dr. Mant to an opinion, which, as a branch of the Lutheran creed, is received, and of course inculcated, by their own missionaries in the Kast Indies. .>nil agree Vvith Dr. Mant that " baptism and re- generation, the terms which specifically denote' the oiitward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace, appear to have been employed by the eariy Christians as expressions of the same itn- portJ* And the reason appears to be this : It bi/t; *^ik\ ^'iix V 'V>»« * Hooker, vol. ili, p. 526, Oxford edition. f See extracts from the Sylloge Co'iifessionum in the Ap» pendix T. 107 was taken for granted that none but regenerate persons would submit to a rite which required a total renunciation of the devil, the world, and the flesh, and which exposed its partakers daily to the risk of spoliation, imprisonment, and death. Besides, in all languages this interchange iu the use -of the terms which express a sign and the thing signified is common j and it is very frequent in the Holy Scriptures. When our Lord took bread into his hands, and said, " This is my body," he adopted this common and intel- ligible interchange. Another still more- appro- priate instai,iQe occurs, Acts, i. 5, " Ye shall be baptised with ftjie Ho!y Ghost not many days hence." The Apostjes were, doubtless, before Regenerate ; b^t they were now to be made par- ^a,kers of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit : and ^^lis participation, without any external washing with water, is called being " baptised.'' And this baptism with miraculous endowments was antecedent, in the case of Cornelius, to the bap- tism with watt^r, as hath been before observed, jh^, manna, ^aiad the wq^ter from the rock, ar^ called 5^/n7«a/pieat and drink, 1 Cor. x. 1, &c. ^nd thus baptism is galled by pur Church, " the mystical washing away of sin," and the Lord's supper is called " a \\o\y mystery ^ " These sa- craments of ftpp Jews," as it is said in the con- tents of the chapter above referred to, " werq types of ours." But with many of those who partook of these outward symbols, ''' God was }08 Hot well pleased." They were in sin, and children of wratli, when they partook of these symbolical benefits ; and remained so afterwards. This the Apostle applies to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, concerning which, he states in the next chapter, that those who partake unworthily, eat and drink damnation to themselves, " not dis- cerning the Lord's body.'* But though the earlj' fathers of the Christian church often interchanged the terms baptism and regeneration, no one can have read the quo- tations produced from them in Bishop Jewel's Defence of his Apology for the Church of Eng- land* without observing that they make the same distinction between thelaverofregeneratiorii and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which Bishop Bradford has stated. The early Christian writers, however, were not always nice in their distinctions, nor accurate in their definitions. They had work of more importance on their hands; and matters of doubtful disputation had not, in their day, divided the church as they have since done. Muchlaxitv of expression is, therefore, to be expected, and will actually be found in their language, on this as well as on other subjects. And, after all, Dr. INfant is right in saying, " that no authority is admissible for the foundation of a doctrine, but that ©f the Holy Scriptures." ^ See a few extracts in the Appendix, No, IX. Tlies^ paight have been greatly multiplied. 3 109 It is well known that in the time of the Fathers, who are referred to by Dr. Mant in sup- port of his cause, the rite of baptism was ad- ministered but twice in the year% viz. at Easter and Whitsuntide, which were, therefore, called dies baptismatum. But, is it to be supposed that, if the fathers of the Christian church believed baptism to be the exclusive channel of regene- ration, and consequently to be essential to sal- vation, they would, for the sake of any sanctity attached to a particular day or days, have so in- frequently administered this ordinance ? Does not the fact testify what their view of the sub- ject was? It moreover appears that the Church, in the early periods of it, allowed the postpone- ment of baptism to the age of youth and man- hood, which the learned Vitringahas accounted for by the circumstances of danger from perse- cution in which her members were then placed. Baptism being of an obUgatory nature, it was supposed that its obligations would be felt more forcibly, if it were administered in riper years, than if it were administered in infancy ; and that, at a period when persecution endangered the fidelity of Christian professors, it was highly important to give it all the influence of which it was capable. The fact of its systematic post- ponement, whatever was the temporary cause of * See Bishop Hopkins's Works, vol. ii. p. 426, 7 ; Pratt's edition. such postponement, does not favour the asser- tion, that the primitive cliurch considered bap- tism and regeneration as inseparable, and both as indispensably necessary to salvation *. Dr. Mant's sentiments, unless I greatly mis- take their nature and tendency, have a most uncharitable aspect. They appear to me to make no provision for the salvation of unbap- tised infants, "dying before they commit actual sin ;" they leave no " door of hope" open on the subject, but what some have called the iincove- nanted mercy of God, which mercy, so far as I have observed, has no place either in the Scrip- tures, or in the doctrines of our Church. The Scriptures declare, " that there is salvation in none other" than in Him who is " given for a covenant of the people ;" and with this declara- tion, the 7th, the 18th, and the 3 1st Articles of our Church concur. Baptism is a seal of the covenant of grace ; but it is not the covenant itself. That covenant existed and was revealed, and sinners were saved under it, for more than two thousand years before either baptism or cir- cumcision was instituted in the church of God. Now, when it is considered that a very large portion of mankind die in infancy ; that multi- tudes of children, even in Christian countries, * S'ee Vltr. ObServ. vol. i. p. 318. *' Rationes vero, ob quas d ilatus vulgo baptismus est in veteri ecclesia ad annos (idolesosntits et jttventutiSf peti posse Judico ex constitutione ecclesu3e illius temporis, &c." Ill .tbrdiigh the sinful neglect of parents, or the «ud(Jen effect of disease, die in an unbaptised jBtate; and that eight hundred and sixteen mil- lions, as it is supposed, of our fellow-creatures are yet involved in Pagan or Mahometan darkness, and, consequently, destitute of Chris- tian ordinances, I know not but that the doc- trine which makes baptism not only " gene- rally," but indispensably necessary to salvation, may leave more to perish than the doctrine which was held by the reformer of Geneva* It is said that " extremes meet." And, cer- tainly. Dr. Mant's views and those of Calvinism, little as I am sure he intends it, seem to me to approximate in this respect. Indeed the result of Dr. Mant's position appears to me to be the more awful of the two. The sublapsarian Calvinist supposes none to perisb but through their own sins, their impenitency and unbelief. Wliereas, if unbaptised infants perish, they perish, it is true, through " the fault of the nature of every one that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam ;" but not on account of voluntary transgression; they perish because Divine Pro- vidence prevented, their parents neglected, or the place of their nativity precluded their parti- cipation in the sacrament of baptism. I do not mean to say that Dr. Mant has asserted in direct terms the exclusion of unbaptised infants, dying before they commit actual sin, from future hap- piness; but that this appears to me to be the 2 112 result of his doctrine on the subject of baptism. Our author says, p. 24, " It is certain that by being born again, of M'hich our Saviour speaks in such lofty language, something is designed absolutely necessary to be attained by those who would enter into the kingdom of God ;" and it is the drift of his whole pamphlet, to prove that what he makes absolutely necessary to salvation, is " supernatural grace to be conferred through the instrumentality of water,"" or regeneration by baptism, without which, he maintains, there can be no regeneration. If, therefore, our Lord's phrase, " the kingdom of God," in the text of Dr. Mant's sermon, is to be understood exclw sively in a sense differing from that which it ge- nerally bears in our Lord's discourses and pa- rables : viz. if it mean the state of future hap- piness *, and if regeneration be inseparable from baptism ; then I know not how this consequence is to be avoided, that infants, dying without baptism, perish everlastingly. Baptism is, con- fessedly, nficessary to an admission into the vi- sible church; and regeneration to admission to the state of future happiness. But, as a man may be a member of the visible church without being glorified in heaven, or possibly may be glorified in heaven without having been a member of the visible church; so I conceive that a man may be baptised without being regenerated, or regene- rated without being baptised. * Dr, Mant, p. 29 and 31, ^«. 115 My own view of the case of infants who die without baptism, is wide])- different. I indulge the cheering hope that all such infants will be saved. Indeed I can have no doubt concerning those who are born of Christian parents. The guilt of original sin (called in our Xlth AxtioXe The fault of the nature of every one, &c.) being cancelled by the merit of the death of Christ; and the *' corruption" of that nature being abolished by the power of God, at the separation of soul and body, as it is in adult believers, 1 see no diffi- culty in the hope I have mentioned, that mercy is extended to all such. I found this hope, not on natural innocence, but on infinite mercy, and the infinite virtue of our Redeemer's blood. The Scriptures have said nothing against it; and our Church, while she maintains the cer- tain salvation of all infants who are baptised ftnd die before they commit actual sin, has de* termined nothing on the state of those who die unbaptised. She had no positive data in the Scriptures on which to found an article of faith, and, therefore, following the rule laid down in her sixth Article, has wisely passed the subject sub silentio. It may be said, that while the reasoning in Dr. Mant's tract refers chiefly to the case of infant baptism, that adopted in these Remarks relates chiefly to adult baptism. The reason of my conduct is obvious; the New Testament affords no instances of paedobaptism on which » I 114 train of argument can be formed. Indeed, very- little is said expressly on the subject. It affords, however, references to the corresponding ordi- nance of infant circumcision, which have not been neglected in these pages ; and the Scrip- ture doctrine concerning circumcision furnishes, as I conceive, full evidence, by analogy, on that side of the question which I have advo- cated. " That was not (the true) circumcision which was outward in the flesh;" but they *' are the (true) circumcision which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and hate no coirftdence in the flesh "^." Infants are received to baptism on the profession of faith made by one OF both of their parents. They are thereby ad- mitted to the privileges of the visible churcli, and have the promises of God, on their future exercise of repentance and faith, visibly signed and sealed to them. " The promise is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." But I have as yet seen no proof that all baptised infants are made partakers of " a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness." I believe that " baptism doth represent unto them their profession, which is to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and be made like unto him, that as he died and rose again for us, * Does not the word " flesh," here and elsewhere, ex- clude all ritual observances from the confidence of the hearJ before God? 115 5b slioukl we, who are baptised, die from sin and rise again unto righteousness.'* It will be observed, that I have reversed Dr. Mant's method. He has begun with the Liturgy, and thence proceeded to the Scriptures. Whereas I have begun with the Scriptures, and then have considered the Liturgy of our church. It is hardly necessary to state my reason. The Liturgy and Articles are to be brought to the test of Scripture, and not the Scripture to that of the Liturgy. The latter^ though the first of human compositions, and confessedly binding on the consciences of the clergy, is nevertheless of human authority ; the former is given by inspiration of God. If the foregoing Remarks have proved that there is no foundation in Scripture for asserting that the inward spiritual grace, in either sacrament, al- ways accompanies the outward visible sign ; if, on the contrary, it have appeared that the former sometimes precedes, and sometimes is subse- quent to the latter, and that in some instances baptised persons are never regenerated*; then * If any single text of Scripture, here produced, should prove that baptism and regeneration are separable the one froiTt the other, Dr. Mant's scheme falls to the ground. For (to quote his own words), " A single text of Scripture, pro- perly understood, may serve for the foundation of a doctrine. ' WTien there are a multitude of affirmations in Scripture,' said the learned Reformer Ridley, * and where there is but * one affirmative, all is one concerning the truth of the mat- * ter : for that which any one of the Evangelists spake, Ss- 116 some other interpretation of the language adopt- ed by the Church in her baptismal services, than that which Dr. Mant has given, must be found, or the consistency of those services with the Scriptures must be brouglit into question. If, again, the Church herself, in other part^ of her formularies of faith and devotion, be shown to maintain the non-coincidence of bap- tism and regeneration, we must change Dr. Mant's interpretation, or make the Church in- consistent with herself. Now, conceiving tliat the concurrence of the Scriptures and of the Church herself, in maintaining that baptism and regeneration may (to use Bishop Bradford's words) " be separated the one from the other," has been proved, I am persuaded that the phra- iseology adopted in the baptismal services must be considered, and was intended by the compi- lers of those services to be considered* (as Bi- shops Bradford and Hopkins have explained it) chiefly to refer to numerous and inestimable indeed, but still extenial privileges; and to express a charitable hope only as to that inward renovation, of which those privileges are the sign and seal, both with respect to those who, in infancy, are brought by their parents and spon- ' spired by the Holy Ghost, was as true as that which was- 'spoken of all'." P. 30. * This will be more fully proved in the Appendix, by a production of the private sentiments held by our reformers -att the subject. 117 -sors for baptism, and also those who, in adult age, offer themselves for admission to that holy .sacrament*. The reader will have observed, that some of the same texts of Scripture, and the same quota- tions from the Liturgy and Articles of the Church, are produced both by Dr. Mant and by the author of these Remarks, in support of their re- spective views on the subject under discussion. On whichever side the truth lies, this circum- stance affords evidence of the weakness of the human mind, and of the effect of prejudice on the human heart. Dr, INIant's reasonings and my own will probably affect our respective readers in general according to their preconceived na- tions on the subject. Surely these considera^ tions strongly enforce the necessity of earnest prayer to Him, whose divine prerogative it is to * ** Neque dicere juvat scire non posse, an infans cre- diturus sit, et professioni parentum renunciaturus, quando ad justam pervenerit aetatem: quia neque sciri potest, an adultus qui se credere profitetur, vere credat et postmodum fidei suae renunciaturus sit. Sufficit, nos posse prsesuraere, infantem non renunciaturum, quia praesumitur suam salutem velle. Sicuti praesumimus, quemque qui se dicit credere, •vere etiam credere, quia Deus alia signa nobis non dedit certiora, unde animum proximi cognoscere licet, quam ex dktis. Unde illi omnes, qui dicunt, se credere et faciuBt quae credentem facere par est, a nobis pro membris foederis intern! haberi debent, licet certo sciamus, pluriraos eorun> ad Jbedus internum non pertinere." Vitring. Obi, Sacr. ^ol. i. p. 328. I 3 118 *' bring into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived." *' Thou celestial Truth, Shine inward, and the mind, through all her powers, Illumine. There plant eyes. All mists from thence Purge and disperse.'* I proceed now to the last general division of these Remarks. III. Dr. Mants view of this subject is, in MY APPREHENSlOiY, FULL OF DANGER TO THE SOULS OF MEN. It appears to me to be an opiate to " the carnal mind." Let us suppose a man, ar- rived at years of maturity, but, through a neg- lect of his parents, never baptised, though born in a Christian country. He finds it, at length, to be convenient to liavehis name enrolled in the register of his parish, with a view to take up his civil freedom, and give his vote at an approach- ing electioii qf a member for Parliament. He is a decent character, so that his moral conduct affords no ground of exception, and he has learned the Church catechism ; but his motive in applying for baptism is wholly of a worldly nature. The case is not a supposititious one; it has occurred, with the exception of one cir- cumstance, to the writer of these Remarks. The clergyman, to whom the application is made, is kept in ignorance of its motive, ex- plains to the applicant the nature of the ordi- 119 nailer, warns him on the subject of his motives, and at length achnits him to baptism. Neither antecedently, concomitantly, nor subsequently, does any spiritual emotion arise in his bosom. No repentance for bis past neglect of God and his soul, no faith in the Lord Jesus, no love of holy obedience is to be found there. Yet this man is to be assured, on Dr. Mant's hypothesis, that be is a regenerate person, a partaker of the thing signified in baptism, a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteous- ness. In what sense such a one can be said to be horn agctin, I cannot conceive. And I must own my conviction that such a baptised person, though admitted within the paje of " the holy Catholic church," is yet afar oiFfroni " the communion of saints." The case which has been stated is, I conceive, in its leading features, of no uncommon occurrence. But instances of persons baptised in tbeir infancy, and through neglect and bad example, and the prevalence of unmortified corruption co-operating with both, growing up in a total ignorance of Christianity, contempt of its or- dinances, want of its faith, and glaring disobe- dience to its precepts, are still more common. In this Christian country there are multitudes of baptised persons, who discover, at no pe- riod of their lives, any other proofs that they have been baptised, than that they can appeal to the register of some parish that they received i4 120 in their infancy a Christian name. If these people are to be told, and that by their clergy- men from the pulpit, that at that time they were regenerated or born of God, that they then became *' dead to sin and alive to righteousness ;" will they not, though reminded that they have forfeited their baptismal privileges, be in danger of concluding that, as there is no necessity of their being regenerated, their state is still tole- rably good, and that the exercise of repentance, at some future time, will rectif}' all, by re- placing them in the possession of their baptismal rights? The awakening consideration to be ad- dressed to such persons is, I conceive, that suggested by our Lord's words, '' Ye must be B0Il]Sr AGAIN." The following representation, made in a pa- per printed in the Protestant Advocate, entitled, " Popery prepares the Way for Infidelity," is cer- tainly founded in truth. The writer assures us, *' Voltaire, and those of his party, were indebt- ed for more than half their success to the cor- ruptions of the national religion, &c. They saw baptism into a visible church almost universally regarded, ex cathedra, as identical with a reception into the invisible church, and as entailing, per se, a right and title to the privileges and immunities of Christians." If this be true, danger is incurred, not only by in- dividuals, but by our Church itself, from the propagation of a similar doctrine in her commu* 121 liioii. Long may she resist the natural process of internal decay, and the efforts of external violence ! My earnest prayer is, " Esto per- petua !" When the Romish missionaries visited China for the purpose of propagating the Christian religion in that immense region ; in order that they might not excite the prejudices of the Chinese against their mission, they kept out of sight the doctrine of a crucified Saviour. They preached Christ as a king, but not as a priest and a sacrifice for sin. Multitudes nominally embiciced this pseudo-Christianity, and were baptised. The ministers who performed the office of baptising these converts were regularly ordained, deriving their commission duly from the Apostles. The form in which they baptised was unexceptionable, viz. " in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ;" and they employed that element which, as Dr. Mant con- tends, is the appointed and exclusive channel of regenerating grace. The Romish missionaries, no doubt, in perfect consistency with their own creed, considered these converts as " regenerat- ed by baptism," not only constituted members of the visible church, but made partakers of God's Holy Spirit, and brought into a state of salvation. But can a Protestant join them in this opinion? Can it be believed among us, that these Christians in nothing nwre than the name, became, by virtue of their baptism, " dead to 122 sin and new born to righteousness," though they were wholly unacquainted with Him who is the only Saviour of sinners ? Were they brought into " a state of salvation," without having even heard of the cross of Christ, the only ground for the hope of salvation ? " Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the name of Jesus Christ, whereby we must be saved." Yet 1 see not how it can be maintained that these converts were unregenerate after their baptism, if it be " the doctrine of the holy Scriptures that we are by baptism made heirs of salvation.'* If regeneration be, inclusively and exclu- sively, connected with the sacrament of bap- tism, so that the two things cannot be put asunder; and if regeneration be, as is allowed by all, essential to salvation ; and if the officers of the Christian church, whose province it is to administer baptism, be, like other men, free and fallible agents ; I know not how the consequence is to be avoided, that God has suspended the salvation of men's souls on the volitions and ac- tions of fallible creatures, not their own volitionsi and actions, but those of others. A fallible man may admit to baptism an impenitent un- believing candidate, as the history of Chinese proselytism proves ; or he may reject, through ignorance or prejudice, a truly penitent believer in Christ. For, had an humble Protestant, whose parents had neglected to bring him in infancy to the baptismal font, applied, before 123 the Reformation, for baptism to the then au- thorized ministers of the Church, he would, on an exposition of his reformed creed, have been unquestionably rejected. Surely such a prerogative cannot have been intrusted to " the will of man.'' The Holy Ghost, God's J/'ee Spirit, .cannot have limited his operations by human actions. " The wind bloweth Avhere it listeth." I believe the power of the keys to be vested in the Church * j but I cannot believe that this power ^■^ Very awful is tlie high prerogative of the Christian mi- nistry, which is spoken of in the following passages : " I will give unto thee the ke3fs of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.'' Mat, xvi. 19. '* And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are re- mitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." John, xx. 22, 23. " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised, shall be saved ; and he that believeth not, shall be damned." Mark, xv. 15, 16. " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth : Go ye, therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have said unto you : and lo, and I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Mat. xxviii. 18—20. " As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." John, xx. 21, 21. It is unnecessary to prove that the commission given to the Apostles, of which these several passages are only varia- tions, was to be conveyed by them to other persons, in suc- cession, to the end of time ; or that an important sense is 124 iiicludcs the communication or refusal of rese^ iierating grace. to be attached to our Lord's solemn words. The question is, in what sense are they to be understood ? In stating my views of this question, I shall not take into consideration the undoubted right of the Church, in her ag- gregate capacity, to admit new members into her commu- nion by baptism, and to exclude offending members from it by excommunication ; but shall confine myself to the power ivhich is vested by this commission in every one who bears it* And I know not how to convey a better idea of the character of this awful commission, than by a comparison. Every minister of the church of Christ may be repre- sented as bearing the office of a judge. Now, the power of life and death is not vested in the hands of the delegated judge ; but is retained by the prince whose officer he is. It is the office of the judge to expound the laxu ; and when the jury have given their verdict on the fact, to pronounce sen- tence according to law. This sentence is reviewed by the prince, and confirmed or rescinded. Now, in the case be- fore us, the law of the kingdom is the Gospel of Christ, in whom is vested both the legislative and executive power. It is the office of his ministers, acting under his authority, to lay down his kiw, and to pronounce sentence according to it, We may consider conscience as fulfilling the part of a jury^ and giving its verdict according to law, as laid down by the judge. The sentervce of absolution or condemnation, as pro- nounced by the delegated judge, is no further binding than it is according to law ; yet is his office who is to expound that law, and then to give sentence according to it, of a most nwful and responsible nature. The jury is under his direc- tion, and dreadful is the supposition, that ministerial igno- rance may mislead the consciences of men in their eternal concerns, or that ministerial carelessness may leave them to form an erroneous judgment concerning their spiritual state. =' To make the hearts ofHiose sad, whom God has not mad« One of the grounds on which the Churck of England separated herself from that of Rome, sad ; or to strengthen the hands of the wicked that he should not return from his evil way, by promising him life," is a crime of crimson hue in a commissioned minister of Heaven. " Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation !" This awful office the minister of Christ performs by his public and private ministrations. His public expositions of the Gospel -sanctions are, of course, more general; '* God absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel." But even in these he declares, that trus repentance and unfeigned faith are necessary to salvation ; and in distinguishing truth from falsehood, sincerity from hy- pocrisy, his work demands deep penetration, and an exten- sive acquaintance with the Scriptures, and with the tortuous windings of the fallen heart. But, in his private intercourse, " both with the sick and the well," his office is still more diffi- cult and awful, because he has the cases of individuals more directly before him. Especially is it so in his official commu- nications with the sick and dying. The crisis for eternity is now arrived, and, before he ventures on the last act of abso- lution, he has need of discernment, with which nothing but a course of personal spirituality can furnish him. How so- lemn is the transaction ! " 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 absolve thee (that is, I declare thee absolved) from all thy «ins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." "Who is sufficient for these things ? Life and death eter- nal, though not vested in the hands of man, are, neverthe- less, connected with the work of the ministry. " We are the »avour of life unto life, or of death unto death." Well may the hands tremble which hold the balance of the sanctuary ; Ivas the doctrine held by the latter, of a neces- sary connexion between the opus operalumj iu the two sacraments, and grace and salvation ; as abundantly appears by the Avorks of Bishop Jewel. Our Reformers perceived the unscrip- tural and dangerous tendency of this doctrine, and renounced it ; and is it probable that they should have retained ft in their baptismal ser- vices r That the same danger still exists, ap- pears from the irreligious temper and character of the great majority of baptised persons in the Protestant cliurch *. I can discover no weight in the objection, employed by Dr. Mant, in p. 25 of his tract, •rell may the joints of his loins be loosed, anci his knees smite one against another, who is sent to negotiate with sin- ners on the subject of salvation, to act as the acct-edited messenger of God to man on his eternal concerns I Were the solemn nature of our commission more deeply consider- ed, and more fully understood, verj' different from what they commonly are would be the preparation for the ministry, the feelings of the mind in entering on it, and the manner in which i^t is executed, " Give attendance to reading, to ex- hortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given tTiee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hand of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things ; give THYSELF WHOLLY TO THEM, ev Talojj iV^*, that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and to thy doc- trine ; continue in them : for, in so doing thou shall both save thyself ajid them that hear thee." 1 Tim. iv. 13 — iQ. * The approach of Dr. IVTant's ai'guments to the doctrine of Popery on the subject of baptism will strike any reader accustomed to look into the Popish controvcrs}'. 127 to that view of baptism and regeneration wliicU I have espoused. " We derive," says he, " a strong probabihty in behalf of our supposition from this consideration, that if the work of re- generation is not affected by baptism, it is al- most impossible for any sober man to say when and by what means it is ; and that we are thus left without any other guide than the very ques- tionable criterion of our own feelinq-s to deter- mine whether we are in possession of that which our Saviour has pronounced to be an indispens- able requisite of salvation." For, if renewing grace always attend the baptismal washing, still final salvation is suspended, by Dr. Mantas well as by those who differ from him, on perseverance in faith and holiness. But, surely, as repentance, faith, and obedience, are the criterion of a re* generate state, to these a reference may always be made. And it is to these evidences of a state of grace, and not to baptism, that the Scriptures at large, and more especially St. John, throughout his treatise on the subject, in his First Epistle, refer us for proof of the safety of our state towards God and an eternal world. If " to deny the regenerating influence of baptism" be, as Dr. Mant maintains, p. 34, " to deny its sacramental character; to strip it of that which makes it most valuable; and to re- duce it to a mere beggarly element, or form without substance, a body without spirit, a sign without signification ;" then to deny a necessary • 128 connexion between takins: bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, and *' the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of Christ," is to " deny the sacramental character" of that supper, Sec. But St. Paul, 1 Cor. ir. 27 — 25, and our Church, most expressly, in her Twenty-ninth Article, do deny any such neces- sary connexion. And I cannot see how the im- portance of the sacraments is, in the smallest degree, lessened, while we say, with Bishop Bur- net, that " the outward effects follow them as outwardly performed ; but that the inward ef- fects follow on the inward acts." It was so under the former dispensation of divine mercy to mankind. Circumcision and the observance of the passover entitled the Israelites, by divine stipulation, to all the outward privileges of the church of God : a neglect of these was an act of self-excommunication. But the circumcision of the heart, and faith in the true Passover, were essential to communion with the invisible church, and to everlasting salvation. The questions which Dr. Mant has intro- duced, p. 43, " Where are we instructed to pray^ after baptism, for regeneration ? Where was Si- mon Magus admonished of the necessity of ano- ther new birth?" may receive an easy answer. Regeneration being the first infusion of spi- ritual life, is an act of God, without human co- operation ; and therefore it is no wonder if w© meet with no exhortations to regenerate our- 129 selves or otli^rs, whether we or they have been ah'eady baptised or not. But, let it be remark- edi that our Lord, in his conversation with Ni- codemus, insisted on the necessity of regenera- tion, though Nicodemus had been previously circumcised; an ordinance which, answering to baptism, would, on Dr. Mant's plan, imply ac- companying regeneration. And it is also to be remembered, that St. John, writing to those whom he styles his " little children," and who had certainly been baptised, states a variety of criteria for the trial of a state of regeneration, all of which, under Dr. Mant's view, are alto- gether superfluous, since it would have been sufficient to have appealed to the witnesses who Avere present at the time when the parties were baptised. Nor are we to forget that, after the pro- mise in the Prophet Ezekiel, " A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you," it is solemnly subjoined, " Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be iiiquired of by the house of Israel, to do it unto them." The prayer^ likewise, of the royal penitent, is im- portant in this view : " Create in me a clean heart, O God ! and renew a right spirit within me." Nor can such language as the following be considered as any thing else than exhorta- tions to seek that death unto sin, and that nexo birth unto righteousness^ to which Dr. Mant's questions, in fact, refer: '^ JVash you, make you clean, put avvay the evil of your doings before K 130 mine eyes ; cease to do evil ; learir to do well." Isaiah, xvi. 17. .""Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem I Wilt thou not be made clean ? When shall it once be?' Jerem. xiii. 27. " Castaway from you all your transgressions whereby ye have trans- gressed, and malie you a new heart and a new spi- rit ; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God ; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye'' Ezek. xviii. 31, 32. *' Azvake thou that sleepest, ?i\\(\ arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Eph. v. 14. "Be filled with the 6>"nV." Eph. v. 18. " Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh unto you ; cleanse your hands, ye sinners ; and pw r'lfy your hearts, ye double-minded." James, iv. 8. I have now noticed, I believe, all the main arguments of Dr. Mant. I must be allowed, however, to lament that a writer, in every other view so candid and respectable, should have been betrayed, incautiously I trust, into the use of disingenuous insinuations against his oppo- nents. To what purpose can misrepresentation serve in any cause? If Dr. Mant conceived his position to have been made good, why should he weaken it by vague intimations? Why throw out the loose and groundless suspicion of A PARTY * in the Church? Must every one who * Dr. Mant, p. 10, 23, &c. 131 happens to differ from Dr. Mant be straightway loaded with odious and uncharitable names? Is this argument? I abstain from saying more on this. I would that Dr. ]\Iant had lent him- self to no worse arts of controv^ersy. But when I lind his Charges of a party-spirit, of enthusiasm, heresy, &c. directed against the CLERGY who profess conscientiously to follow what they believe to be the unquestionable sentiments of their Church and of the Scrip- tures; and the Proofs of these charges drawn from the writings of " the founders of Method- ism*," men who lived and wrote at the distance of nearly half a century, what, again, can I say? Is this reasoning? Is this Christian cha- rity? Is there any point of connexion between the premises and the conclusion? Might not any man be tlius arbitrarily placed in contact with any sentiment? The plain fact is, so far as argument is concerned, Dr. Mant might as well have alleged any other charges he pleased against his brethren, and then have adduced as proofs the decrees of the Council of Trent, ot the propositions of the Constitution Unigenitus. But I stop again. Perhaps these mistakes might have been left to correct themselves. Not so the really dreadful representation which Dr. Mant gives of the manner in which the doctrine of regeneration is taught by those * Dr. Mant, p. 22, 23, &c. 132 clcigvnien, who tlo not consider it to be inse- parable from baptism. I shudder when I allude to language, whicli if I were not assured of the quarter from which it proceeds, I should be al- most disposed to consider as profane *. Hazard- * " Nor will it be heard without surprise, mingled perhaps- with some degree of indignation, that not only among the deluded partisans of schismatical enthusiasm, but in the very bosom of the Church, there are men, who have pledged theniselves most solemnly to the supjwrt of her doctrines, and who arrogate to themselves tlie distioction. of being her only faithful sons ; whose preaching nevertheless is in irre- concilable opposition to her unequivocal and numerous de- clarations on this impoi'tant article of her creed. Regene- ration is, as it were, inscribed on their banners, and is one of the watchwords of their sect : regeneration, not the fruit of Christ's holy ordinance of baptism, but the effect of their- declamation ; not the blessing of a soul, peacefully devoted to Christ's service, but the mark of oi>e zealous in the cause of their party. They who can be persuaded to embrace the tenets of that party, are described as labouring in the pangs and travails of the new birth, until Christ be formed in them ; whilst all who tread in the sound paths of the Church, of Scripture, and of antiquitj', unseduced by their invitations, and unterrified bj' their threats, are represented, together with their ministers, those blind leaders of the blind, as un- regenerate unconverted sinners." Dr. Mant, p. 23 and 24.. *' In this condition perhaps he will continue, sometimes exulting in hope, and sometimes sunk in despondency ;. waiting for an extraordinary impulse of the Holy Spirit^ and neglecting the means of procuring his ordinary sanctifying grace; until the moment approach, in which, under the in- fluence of some powerful preacher, whose word is sharper than a two-edged sword, he is to undergo his mysterious re- generation; a regeneration, wherein, inatead of being born« 133 mis beyoml all nieasuie it unquestionably is. Does then Dr. i\Iant need to be informed, that the doctrine of " a death unto sin and a new birth unto rigliteousness" may be treated in as calm and cautious a manner as any doctrine he himself admits ; as the doctrine of conversion, himself of water, and of the Spirit, Christ is to be * born in his lieart as he was born in the Virgin's womb * ;' a regene- ration, without undergoing the pangs of which he is taught that ' he may flatter himself that he may go to heaven, but will certainly find himself miserably mistaken in the end f ;' when, having experienced a state of horror, agony, and despair, wliich mocks the language of description, and which i.t were too painful, if it were possible, to describe ; a stats of pangs and travails, which is necessary to be sustained by every one ere Christ be formed in "him ; a state which has been compared by those who have felt its horrors, to the agonies of death, the pains of hell, and tortures inflicted by infuriate devils J ; he fancies that he is begotteii again ! that he is born of the Holy Spirit of God ! *' What will be the future life of a man thus regenerated, 1 do not venture to pronounce. But in noticing some evil consequences of a doctrine, which, for the spiritual grac« attendant upon the holy ordinance of Christ, substitutes a wild and fanciful regeneration of man's invention, we may be allowed to speculate on the effects likely to be produced in one thus initiated to the new birth. To speculate, did I say, on probable effects? Rather to call to mind eftect* which have notoriously ensued, and consider whether they are not such as sober reason might have foreseen." Dr. Mant, p. 51—53. * M'tiitfielil's Eighteen Sermons, p. 307. f Whitfield's Works, vol. i. p. 18. J Wesley's Journal, and Enthusiasm of Methodists, &c. Tol. iii. p. 23, And following pai^es. K 3 134 or repentance, or faith, or love, or sincerity, or any other branch of practical divinity? Does Dr. Mant need to be informed that it is in fact so treated ? Does he not knew that his brethren, whom he deeply wounds, however uninten- tionally, by such statements, hail with de- light the opening gern)s of piety in the ear- liest infancy, and ascribe thcni, where they ap- pear, to that regenerating grace, which they believe to have been in such cases communi- cated in the sacrament of baptism? Does he imagine that they maintain the infrequency of that gradual and almost imperceptible change of heart in the subsequent years of childhood or youth, which is so often the result of God's blessing on the pious efforts of a Christian edu^ cation? Or does he suppose that, in such cases, the necessity of a new birth unto righteousness is still insisted on? Can he be wholly ignorant that they labour, in every instance, carefully to separate the sacred work of the Holy Spirit from the spurious admixture of enthusiasm or folly, and to try every appearance of it by the plain evidences of the unerring word of God? Or does he not know, that, in cases of a dubious nature, they are guided by the most wakeful and considerate charity in their judgments? But I need not say more; with Dr. Mant's ar- guments I am ready to cope; but on representa- tions so revolting, perhaps the most charitable comment is silence. 135 Dr. Mant's brethren in the Church, from whom he differs on the subject of baptism, will all join in the following observations of a learn- ed foreign divine, before quoted : " Sunt qua3- dam alterius generis operationes Spiritus Sanctis ad quas nunc respicio. Spiritus operatur in in- fantibus et minoribus pro modoqui illorum statui conveniat. Incipit pro ratione 'cctatis animam vindicare a servitute peccati, quam in corpora servit. Suscitat in ea cogitationem de Deo ; facit earn attendere ad sermoneset colloquia qu£e inter alios de Deo feruntur; excitat conscien- tiam, ut malcfactorum earn arguat et benefacta laudet ; animum docet advertere ad exempla piorum quas sermone hominum celebrantur, eumque deterret a vitiis et sceleribus impiorum ; accendit in eo, quam primum id astas patitur, cupiditatem verbi Dei cognoscendi, et ita sen- sim prgeparat animum ad stipulandum proposi- tioni foederis gratia?, quando illius percipiendas capax est, quando tandem in animo generatur fides. Sic certe infantes non suntgratieedivinas exsortes, quam gratiam quia prcEsumuntur ha- bere, quamdiu contrar'mm ejus nobis non liquet ; quo praetextu iis negabimus sacramentiim illud ncoi foederis^ (\\\o commxxmo hujus gratiag ipsis obsignatur?" — Vih\ Obs. Sacr. vol. i. p. 330. If, before I conclude these Remarks, I may be allowed, without a charge of presumption, to sug- gest a single hint to Dr. Mant and other zealous friends of our apostolic Establishment (an esta- K 4 136 bllsbment apostolic both in its origin and cha- racter), I would recommend them to reconsider whether the plan which is sometimes adopted for its defence be that which is "discreetest, wisest, best." The Dissenters, by whom we are sur- rounded, are multiform in doctrine ; and some of them, as might be expected, approximate very nearly in their views of truth to our own doctrinal Articles. Heterodoxy, there- fore, is not the ground on which they can, altogether, be convicted of error, nor that on which some of them can be addressed at all with any advantage. The real point of general dis- agreement between us and them is that of church government. We believe in the divine orio-in of episcopacy, and in the necessity of a com- mission from the great Head of the church, transmitted through the Apostles, by succession, to the regular exercise of tlie pastoral function. On this. Dissenters of every name are at issue with us. Let this point, then, be maintained; let this ground be taken and made good *. Our inestimable Articles are our standard of doc- trine ; and to these many of our dissenting countrymen would freely subscribe. Our ines- timable Liturgy is our formulary of worship; * I rejoice to see that this ground has been taken by the Church of England Tract Society, in a tract, entitled, *^ Short R-easons for Communion with the Church OF England; or, The Churchman's Answer to the Ques? tipn, Why are you a Member of the Established Church ?" 137 and to this no small number of the Dissenters might, perhaps, be reconciled. Let friendly attempts be made to convince them that the grand outline of our plan of cliurch government is apostolic. In this Dr. i\Iant will have the cordial concurrence of those numerous clergy- anen whom he will perliaps fail to convince by the treatise 1 have been reviewing ; the great majority of whom are, perhaps, quite as well ac- quainted with the platform of our church order, .and more cordial in their esteem of it, than jnany of those who are loudest in their claims of attachment to the national creed. The great day which is approaching will show who are the true and best members of the orthodox aj)osto- • lical Church of iuioland. As to the main subject which has been before jne, I may deceive myself, for the intellect of man is clouded by sin, and his " heart deceitful .above all things;" but I cannot but feel per- suaded that, in the chief sentiments maintain- ed in these Remarks, I am in unison with *' the glorious company of the Apostles, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets, the noble army of martyrs, and the holy church through- out all the world ;" na}', that it has the sanc- tion of " the innumerable company of angels," who " rejoice," not over every sinner who is baptised, but " over every sinner that repenteth." .1 may, I repeat it, deceive myselt* in this persuasion ; the judgment is with the dispas- 138 sionate public. But on one point no Christian can doubt, that " To he carnally minded is death; and to he spirituallij minded is I'lfe and peace:* and, that " If any man he in Christ, he is a nexu creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are hecome new." To the truth and importance of these solemn declara- tions, I shall have the cordial sanction of Dr. Mant, for whose character and zeal, though I am personally unacquainted with him, I entertain a high respect. Honest men may indeed differ in their views, or their manner of expressing them, and it becomes them to bear with each other in the spirit of Christian charity : but they must all agree in one clear scriptural truth, that WITHOUT HOLINESS, Spiritual evangelical holi- ness, implanted by the Holy Ghost seminally in iufancy, and appearing with our growing years; or communicated from the same Spirit in more advanced life, no man shall see the Lord. Plad I not conceived Dr. Mant's views to be, unintentionally I am sure, hostile to the promotion of vital, practical godliness ; and had they not been "published in a form adapted for circulation among the community at large ;" I would not have troubled the world with these Remarks, however I might have dif- fered from him on the subject. It I have erred, either in the matter or spirit of what I have written, I heartily solicit forgiveness from God, from the Church, aud from my truly respect able opponent. APPENDIX : tOXTAINING AUTHORITIES FROM THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES, AXD DIVINES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 1 HESE authorities are diAaded Into tliree classes. The First Class contains quotations from the body of Protestant Confessions, and the writings of our eminent Martyrs and Reformers, and otlier divines near the period of the Reformation. The Second Class begins with citations from Bishop Andrews, in chronological order, or nearly so, to the pre-^ sent time. The Third Class contains extracts from books and tracts on the list of the Society for promoting Christian. Knowledge. to" It may first, however, be expedient to notice, for the sake of perspicuity, that the single point for which these classes of authorities are produced, is, to ascertain the opi- nions of the Protestant churches and the leading chvines of the Church of England from the Reformation to the present day, on Dr. Mant's main position; viz. " That all persons who have been baptised are indiscriminately regenerated ; That we are born anew in baptism, and in baptism exclusively. That, for the purpose of rege^ neration, the union of water as the instrument, and of the Spirit as the efficient principle, is absolutely necessary.'''' P. 35, 33, 27, 40, et passim. Perhaps it may be further necessary to remind the reader, that Dr. iMant uses as synonymous with regenera. 140 tion or the new birth, " The being born of God; the being horn, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God ; the being brought into the glorious liberty of tbe children of God ; the being made partakers of Christ's nature ; the being raised from sins and quickened by God ; the having a new principle of life infused,"" &c. &c. P. 8, 17, 32, et passim. The question, therefore, is, not whether the writers eited consider the new birth to be the spiritual grace of baptism ; not, whether they represent this grace as accom- panying the administration of it, when God is pleased to grant it; nor, whether baptism may in sacramental language be termed regeneration : on these points there is no con- test between Dr. Mant and myself. The question is. Does the spiritual grace of baptism — a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness — invariably accompany the right ' administration of the external sacrament ? First Class of Authorities, containing Quotations from the Bodi/ of Protestant Cojrfessions, and the IFritings of our eminent Alartyrs and Rc" Jormers, and other Divines 7iear the Time qft/ie Refortnation. J HE XXXIX. Articles of the Church of England were agieed upon in the Convocation, A. D. 1562, and con firmed A. D. 1571. No. I. The following extracts from the Sylloge Conjesslonum (Oxford edit.) will show what was the doctrine held by 141 the principal reformed churches. And it is to he ohsenecl, that these documents contain, not the opinions of inchvi- duals, but articles of faith, agreed on by the general consent of whole churches. " Habemus in illis non pri* vatumcujusvis opinionem, sed pubhcum ecclesiarum con- sensum. Alia est queestio quid Lutherus, quid Melanc- ihon, quid Calvinus, privatim senserit, alia, quid pubhce ita proposuerunt, ut connnunl eomim consensu muniretur, et in legem transiret." CoNFEssio Helvetica. De Sacramentis Ecclesice Chr'isti. " Neque vero approbamus istorum quoque doc- trinam, qui doccnt gratiam, et res significatas, signls ita allegari et includl, ut quicunque signls extenus partlci- pent, etiam inteiius gratiae rebusque significatis participes sint, quales quales sint. Idem, De samto Baptismo. " Nascimur enim omnes in peccatorum sorchbus, et sumus fihi iras. Deus autem, qui dives est misericordia, purgat nos a peccatis gratulto, per sanguinejn Fllli sul, et in hoc adoptat nq^ in filios, adeoque foedere sancto nos slbi connectit, et vai'ils donis dltat, ut possimus novam vivere vitam. Ohs'ignantur haec omnia baptismo. Nam intus regeneramur, purificamur, et renovamur a Deo per Splritum Sanctum : Jbrls autem accipimus ohs'ignat'tonem maximorum donorum, in aqua^ qua etiam maxima ilia beneficla reprcescntantur, et veluti ocuUs nostris conspicienda proponuntur. Ideoque bap- tisamur, id est, ablulmur, aut aspergimur aqua vlsiblli. Aqua enim sordes mundat, deficientia et gestuantia recreat, et refiigerat corpora. Gratia vero Dei haec anlmabus praestat, et quldem invisibihter vel spirituallter." § 9. CoNFEssio AuGusTANA. " De baptlsmo docent, quod nccessarlus sit ad salutem, tanqiiam ceTemonia a Christo instituta, et quod per baptismum qfferatur gratia Dei : et quod infantes sint baptisandi : et quod infantes 14^i per baptismum Deo connnendati, recipiantur in gratiam Dei, slcut Christiis testatur, loquens de parvulis in ec- clesia, Mat. xviii. No7i est voluntas Patris vestri qui in coelis est, vt per eat unus eoc parvulis istis. § 13. " Damnant igitur Pharisaicam opinionem^ quae obruit doctrinam de fide, nee docet fidem in usu sa- cramcntorum requiri, quae credat propter Christum nobis gratiam dari. Sod fi'ngit homines justos esse propter usum sacravientorum exopere operato, et quidem sine bono viotu utentiumP The Saxon Confession is not equally explicit ; but therein also the efficacy of the ordinance is suspended on the state of the recipient. For, after the mutual stipula- tion has been referred to, it adds, " ita efficax est in te hie Filius Dei, Sec."" And afterwards, in the section Dc . Cocna Domini, it says, " Et baptismus et ccena Domini sxmipignora et testimania gratia;.'''' Catechesis Heidelbergensis. De Sacramentis. " Sola fidfs nos Christi atque omnium ejus beneficiorum pai'ticipes facit Qu'td sunt sacr amenta ? Sunt sacra et in oculos incurrentia signa ac sigilla, ob eam causam a Deo instituta, ut per ea nobis promissionem Evangelii magis declaret et obsignet ; quod scilicet non universis tantum, verum etiam singulis crede7itibus, propter unicum illud Christi sacrificiuni, in cruce peractum, gi*atis donet remissionem peccatorum et vitam etemam. *' Estne ergo extei-nus baptismus aqua; ipsa peccatO' rum ablutio ? Non est : nam solus sanguis Jesu Christi purgat nos ab omni peccato. " Cur ergo Spiritus Sanctus baptismum appellat lava- crumregenerat'ion'is, et dblut'ioncm peccatoi'um? Deus noij sine gravi causa sic loquitur ; videlicet, non sohmi ut nos doceat, quemadmodum sordes coi*poris aqua purgaiitur ; sic 143 peccata nostra sanguine et Spiritu Christ! explari : verum multo magis, ut nobis hoc divino symbolo ac pignore cer- ium faciat, nos non minus vere a peccatis nostris intenia lotione ablui, quam externa et visibili aqua abluti sumus." No. II. William Tindal died hy Martyrdom, A. D. 1536. From the Works of Tindal. Fathers of the Eng- lish Church, Vol. I. p. 180, 181. " The word sacra- ment is as much as to say an holy sign ; and representetli always some promise of God. As in the Old Testament God ordained that the rainbow should represent and signify unto all men an oath that God sware to Noah, and to all men after him, that he would no more drown the world throuffh water." Baptism. — " The washing without the word helpeth not ; but through the word it piu'ifieth and cleanseth us : as thou readest (Eph, v.) how Christ cleansed tne con- gregation in the fountain of water through the word. The word is the promise that God hath made. Now, as a preacher, in preaching the word of God, saveth the hearers that believe, so doth the washing, in that it preacheth and representetli unto us the promise that God hath made to us in Christ." In another place, p. 199, Tindal speaks of those *' that have their hearts washed with this inward baptism of the Spirit," as distinguished from mere professors of Christianity. N. B. YVilliam Tindal, who is calkd by Bishop Hall, in his Catalogus Scriptorum illustrium Bi'itannicorum, *' a pious and devoted son of the reformed Church of England," was one of the translators of the Scriptures into the English tongue. 144 No, III. John Frith died hy Martyrdom^ A. D. 153^. Extract from his Treatise on Baptism, written 1533. '' This ovitward sign doth neither ^ve us the Spirit of God, neither yet grace, that is, the favour of God. For if, through the washing in the water, the Spirit of grace were given, then should it follow, that whosoever were bap- tised in water should receive this precious gift ; but that is HQt so, wherefore I must needs conclude tliat this outward siign, by any power or influence that it hath, bringeth not the Sj)irit or favour of God. That every man receiveth not this treasure in baptism, it is evident: for put the case, that a Jew or an infidel should say tliat he did believe, and believe not indeed (for no man can judge what his heart is ; but we must receive him to baptism if he confess our faith with his moudi, albeit his heart be far from thence) ; this miscreant now thus baptised, hath received this outward sign and sacrament as well as the most faith- ful man believing. Howbeit, he neither receiveth the Spirit of God, neither any grace ; but rather condemna- tion."" Fatlicrs of the English Churchy ^ ol. I. p. 384. The children of Christian parents " have a promise as well as the children of the Hebrews, by the which they are of the visible congregation ; which thing only is tes- tified in their baptism For our baptism doth not tes- tify that we are of that pure congregation, which was chosen and sanctified in Christ before the world began, which have their names written in the book of Hfe, of the which it is not possible one sliould perish ; for then were it a false testimony : seeing many which are baptised fall af- terwards into perilous heresies and utter desperation, , which bringeth them unto death everlasting." P. 389- The whole treatise is to the same effect. 145 No. IV. Bishop Latimer died by Martyrdom, A. D. 1544. From the sixth Sermon by Bishop Latimer, preached before King Edward, Vol. I. p. 72, I extract the follow- ing testimony of this venerable man. " The preaching of the Gospel is the powel* of God to every man that doth beheve. He (Paul) means God's word opened ; it is the instrument and the thing whereby we are saved. Beware, beware, ye diminish not this of. lice : for, if ye do, ye deny God's power to all that do be- lieve. Christ saith, consonant to the same, * Except a * man be born again from above, he cannot see the kingdom * of God."" He must have a regeneration: and what is this regeneration.? It is not to be christened in water, and nothing else. How is it to be expounded then ? St. Peter showeth, that one place of Scripture declareth another. It is the circumstance and collation of places, that make Scripture plain : 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." Surely Dr. Mant could not have met with this passage, or he would not have quoted the venerable Latimer as fa- vouring his scheme. This episcopal martyr, in his sermon on Matt. xxii. 1, when speaking of the importance of preaching the word of God, expresses himself in a similar manner : " Our Saviour saith to Nicodemus, ' Except 4 * man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' But how cometh this regeneration ? By hearing or believ- ing of the word of God : for so saith Peter, * We are * born anew not of mortal seed, but of immortal, by the L ]4(; ' word of God.'' Likewise Paul saith in another place, ' It pleased God to save the believers, through the fool- * ishness of preaching.'* No. V. Archbisho}) Cranmer died by Martyrdom, A. D. 1556. The ambiguous language on the subject of the sacra- ments which is sometimes used by the early Fathers of the Christian church, and of which specimens are not wanting in the Reformers of our own Church, is thus accounted for by Archbishop Cranmer in his book on the sacranlents. After referring to a passage from St. Austin, which had been abused by the Papists, book iv. chap. vii. he says, *' But consider the place of St. Austin diligently, and then it shall evidently appear, that he meant not of the eating of Christ's body, but of the sacrament thereof. For the intent of St. Austin there, is to prove that good things avail not to such persons as do evil use them ; and that many things which of themselves be good, and be good to some, yet to other some they be not good. As that light is got)d for whole eyes, and hurteth sore eyes : that meat which is good for some, is evil for other some. One medicine healeth some, and maketh other sick : one harness doth arm one, and cumberetli another : one coat is meet for one, and too strait for another. And after other examples, at last, St. Austin sho-cdh the same to he true in the~ sacrament, both of baptism and of the Lord's Supper, which he saith doth profit only them that receive the same Avorthily.'" " In sacraments (saith St. Austin) is to be considered, not what they be, ' but what they show ; for they be signs of other tilings, being one thing, and signifying another. 147 " Therefore, as, in baptism, those that come feignedly, and those that come uiifeignedly, both be washed with the sacramental water, hut both be not "washed with the Holy Ghost, and clothed with Christ : so iii the Lord''s Supper^ &c. " Chap, \-iii. And (as before is at length declared) a figure hath the name of the thing that is signified thereby. As, a man''s image is called a man ; a hon's image, a lion ; a bird's image, a bird ; and an image of a tree and herb, is called a tree and herb And a thousand like speeches which were not understood of the very things, but only of the imac^es of them. o " So doth St. John Chrysostom say, * that we scq * Christ with our eyes, touch hun, feel him, and grope him * with our hands, fix our teeth in his flesh, taste it, break ' it, eat it, and digest it, make red our tongues, and dye * them with his blood, and swallow it and drink it.' " And in a catechism, by me translated and set forth, I used like manner of speech, saying, ' that with our ' bodily mouths we receive the body and blood of Christ.'' Which saying, divers ignorant persons (not used to read old ancient authors, nor acquainted with their phrase and manner of speech) did carp and reprehend, for the lack of good understanding. " For this speech, and others before rehearsed of Chrysostom, and all others like, be not understood of the very flesh and blood of our Saviour Christ (which in very deed we neither feel nor see) ; but tliat which we do to the bread and wine, by a figurative speech, is spoken to be done to the flesh and blood, because they be the very signs, figures, and tokens instituted of Christ, to represent unto us his very flesh and blood And as this is the most true, so is it full and sufficient to answer all 148 things that the Papists can bring in this matter, that hath any appearance for their party." It is to be remembered, that Cranmer had a principal hand in the construction of our Articles of Religion, and in the compilation of the Book of Common Prayer. He has, I conceive, furnished, in the above extract, a clew to the meaning of those Articles on sacramental subjects, and of the baptismal offices, as weW as of his o^vn writings and those of our other Reformers, and also of the primi- tive Fathers of the Christian church. Without this clew, many passages of the early Fathers will appear to be as strongly in favour of transubstantiation, as others do in fa- vour of the supposed necessary connexion between baptism and regeneration. No. VI. Bhliop Ridley died hy Martyrdom^ A. D. 1544. Similar language is used by Dr. N. Ridley, the most, -learned of all the Reformers, and who also was concerned in framing our Articles and compiling our Liturgy. In his Treatise on the Lord's Supper, the whole of which work sheds light on the present question, the learned au-* thor says, " St. Austin also, in his twenty-third Epistle to Bonifacius, teacheth how sacraments do bear the names of tlie things whereof they be sacraments, both in bap- tism and the Lord's table ; even as we call every Good Friday, the day of Christ's passion ; and every Eas- ter Day, the day of Christ's resurrection ; when in very deed there was but one day wherein he suffered, and but one day wherein he rose. And why do we then call them BO, which are not so indeed, but because they are in like time and course of the year, as tliose days were, wherein those tilings were done ?" 149 No. VII. mmam Turner died A. D. 1568. '* The Old Learning and New^'' by the Rev. Williani Turner, promoted, during the reign of Edward Vt. to the deanery of Wells, and restored to his dignity on the accession of EUzabeth, contains the following contrast on the subject " or the sacraments.'* V THE NEW LEARNIXG. *' It is enough and sufficient to receive tlie sacrament^ effectually and with fruit, to have no stop or let of deadly sin. And there is not required of a man a good motion within him, which receiveth them, whereby of a concur- rence or worthiness he may receive grace : for the sacra- ments bring grace with them of the work that is A^Tought by them, or by the work itself, that is to say, because the work is showed and ministered as a siffn or sacrament. o This saith tlie master of sentences, in the fourtli book, in the first distinction. THE OLD LEARNING. " The Gospel \^dtnesseth, that we be saved, not by an holy sign but through faith. (Gen. xv.) \ Abraham * gave credence, and believed God, and that was reckoned * unto him for righteousness.' (Rom. iv. and x.) ' If a * man believe from the heart, he shall be made righteous.' He saith not that with the body, an holy sign is taken unto righteousness. Also (Habakkuk, ii. and Rom. i.), * The just shall Uve by his faith.' He saith not, he shall Uve by the sacrament. It followeth therefore, after the old learning, that faith is necessary to be had in hi.ti that receiveth the sacrament with fruit."' L S 150 No. VIII. Bishop Hooper died hy Martijrdoin, A. D. 1555. The testimony of Hooper, Bishop of Gloucestei", is still more determinate. " Although baptism be a sacrament to be received and honourably used of all men, yet it sanctifieth no man. And such as do attribute the remission of sins to the ex- ternal sign, do oifend. John (Matt, iii.) preached peni- tence in the desert and remission of sin in Christ. Such as confessed their faults he marked, and declared them to be of Christ's church. So that external baptism was but an inauguration or external consecration of those that first believed and were cleansed of their sins, as he de- clareth himself in the same place : ' I (saith he) baptise * -vrith water ;' as though he said, ' I\Iy baptism maketh * no man the better, inwardly it changeth no man : but * I call and preach to the outward eai*, I exhort unto re- * pentance. And such as say they do repent, I wash * with water. He that inwardly cleanseth is stronger * than I. His grace it is only that purifieth the soul. I '' baptise unto repentance, that is to say, into a new life.' *' This new life comcth not, until such time as Christ be kno^vn and received. Now, to put on Christ is to hve a new life. Such as be baptised, 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 botli necessary. The one interior, which is the cleansing of the heart, the drawing of the Father, the operation of the Holy Ghost: this baptism is in man when he believeth and trusteth that Christ is the only ac- tor of Iiis salvation. 151 *' Thus be tTie infants examined coiicerning repentance and faitli, before they be baptised with water; at the contempiution of the which faith God purgeth the soul. Tlien 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. "And likewise, baptism v/ith tlio repetition of the words is a very sacrament aiid sign, that the baptised creature should die from sin all his life, as Paul wiiteth (Rom. vi.). Likewise no man should condeniu nor neg- lect tliis outward sign, for the commandmeufs sake; though it have no power to purge from sin, yet it con- firmeth the purgation of sin, and the act of itself pleaseth God, because the receiver thereof doth obey the will of his commandment. " Like as the King's IVIajcsty, that now is, imme- diately after the deatli of his father, was the true and legitimate King of England, right heir unto the crown, and received his coronation, not to make himself thereby king, but to manifest that the kingdom appertained unto him before. He took the crown to confirm his right and title. Had all England said nay, and by force, contrary to God's laws and man's laws, with an exterior ceremony and pomp, crowned any other man, he should have been an adulterous and wrong king, ^vith all his solemnities and coronation. Though this ceremony confirm and ma- nifest a man in his kingdom, yet it maketh not a king, but the laws of God and of the land that give by succes- sion the right of the kingdom to the old king's first heir male in England and other realms. And the babe in the cradle hath as good a right and claim, and is as true a king in his cradle ur.crowned, as his fatlier was, though he reigned a crowned king forty years. And this right ©f the babe should be defended and manifested, not only l4, 152 by the ceremony of coronation, but with all obedience and true subjection. " So it is in the church of Christ : man is made the brother of Christ and heir of eternal life, by God's only mercy, received by faith, before he receive any ceremony to confirm and manifest openly his right and title. He saith, he believeth in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and believeth (he saith) the remission of sin ; he doth not only deny the devil, the world, and sin, but saith, he will forsake them for ever, and serve his Master, the Lord of virtue, King of heaven and earth. Thus assured of God, and cleansed from sin in Christ, he hath the Uvery of God given unto him, baptism, the which no Christian should neglect; and yet not attri- bute his sanctification unto the external sigrn. As the King's Majesty may not attribute his right unto the crown, but unto God, and unto his father, who hath not only given him grace to be born into the world, but also to govern as a king in the world ; whose right and title the crown confirmeth, and showeth the same unto all the "world. Whereas this right by God and natural succession precedeth the coronation, the ceremony availeth nothing. A traitor may receive the crown, and yet be true king no- thing the more. So an hypocrite and infidel may receive the external sign of baptism, and yet be no Christian man any the more, as Simon Magus and others,'^ No. IX. Bishop Jewel died J. D. 1571. Bishop Jewel has been justly esteemed one of tlio brightest ornaments of the Beformation and of the Church of England. The following selections from liis works will 3 153 show what were his sentunents on the subjects of baptism and regeneration. In his Apology of the Church, he says, " We re- ceive also and allow the sacraments of the church, that is, the sacred signs and ceremonies which Christ commanded us to use, that he might by them represent to our eyes the mysteries of our salvation, and most sti'ongly confirm the faith we have in his blood, and seal in our hearts his grace ; and we call them^g'ures, signs^ types, antitypes^ forms, seals, prints, or signets, similitudes, examples, images, remembrances, and memorials ; with TertuUian, Origen, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, and Dionysius, and many other Catholic fathers. Nor do we doubt with them, to call them a kind of visible words, the signets of righteousness and the symbols of graced In his Defence of his Apology, he says, " Touching the virtue or power of this sacrament (viz. of baptism), if Mr. Harding mean thereby the outward element of the water, he knoAveth or may easily know, it is a common resolution among all his own school doctors, The grace of God is not tied to any sacraments. The meaning thereof is this : that God is able to work salvation, both with tliem and without them. St. Augustine saith, as it is before alleged. Now ye are clean, because of the ivord that I have spoken unto you. But why saith lie noty Noxo are ye clean, because of the baptism wherexvith ye are washed; saving, because that in the water it is the word that maketh clean? Take away tJie word, and what is the water more than water f Therefore he saith, Tlie water giveth us outwardly the sacrament of grace And this is the power and virtue of the sacrament. " We must consider that the learned fathers, in their treatises of the sacraments, sometimes use the outward 154 sign instead of the tiling itself which is signified; some- times tliey use the thing signified instead of the sign. As for example, sometimes they use Chrisfs blood instead of the water. Sometimes they name the water instead of Christ's blood. Tliis figure is called Metonymla ; that is to say, an exchange of names, and is much used among tlie learned, especially speaking of the sacraments. *' St. Augustine, using the water in place of the blood of Christ, that is signified by the water, saith thus: It hredkdli the band of sin ; it reconcileth the goodness {)f nature ; it doth renew a man in one Christ. *' Notwithstanding, indeed, and in precise manner of speecli, salvation muBt be sought in Christ alone, and not in any outwaj'd signs. Christ is the Lamb of God that idketh away the sijis of the world. The blood of Christ maketh • ils clean Jiom all our sins. St. Cyprian saith, TJte remission of sin ^ whether it he given by baptism or by any other sacrament, is indeed of tJie Holy Gliost ; and to the same Holy Ghost only the privilege of this work doth appertain. The solemnity of the words, and the invocation of God''s holy name, and the outioard signs appointed to the mimstry of the priests by the in- stitution of the Apostles, worh the outward visible sacra- ment ; hut touching the substance thereof (which is the remission of sin), it is the Holy Ghost that workcth it. " Likewise saith St. Jerome, The minister being a man, giveth only the water ; but God giveth the Holy Ghost, whereby the sins be zcashed away. And again : If any man have received only the bodily washing of water, iJuti is outwardly seen with the eye, he hath not put ON OUR Lord Jesus Christ."" Speaking of the abuse of the sacraments, Bishop Jewel writes thus ; " St. Jerome saith. When the sacra- ments be misused, God himself, whose sacraments they 3 155 be, is mhused. And the greatest abuse and villany, that can happen to any sacrament, is, contrary to Christ's in- stitution and the nature of a sacrament, to be hoiwured instead of God. And St Augustine saith, Who receiveth baptism univorthily, receiveth Ids judgment and not his health. " It is certain and most manifest by Irenams, that, as Christ"'s body is tlie one part of the sacrament, so is mate- rial bread the other. Likewise in baptism, as the one part of that holy mystery is Christ's blood, so is the other part the material water. Neither are these parts joined together in place, but in mystery ; and therefoee they BE OFTEXTIMES SEVERED, AND THE ONE IS EECEIVED WITHOUT THE OTHER. " His (God's) word declare th his love towards us, and that word is sealed and made good by baptism. Our faith, which are baptised, and our continuance in the profession which we have made, establish in us this grace which we receive. As it is said, True baptism standeth not so much in "zcashing of the body, as in thejaith of the heart. " As the doctrine of the Apostles has taught vis, say- ing (Acts, XV.), By faith purifying their hearts. And in another place. Baptism saveth us, not the putting away the jilth of the jlesh, but the examining of a good conscience before God, hy the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Therefore St. Jerome saith. They that receive tiot 6ap~ tism with perfect * faith, receive the water, but the Holy Glwst they receive not.'''' A variety of other extracts, to the same piu-pose, might have been made fixjm the voluminous writings of this most able divine, which were held in so high estimation by the whole Protestant world, that they w^e translated * Perfect, i. e. sincere faitlr. 155 into almost all the languages of Europe. But the extracts here given are sufficient to prove that, notwithstanding the strong figurative language which our Reformers have sometimes used, they meant not to affirm, nor did the Catholic fathers, in their opinion, ever mean to affirm, a necessary connexion between baptism and internal rege- neration, or that baptism is, as Dr. Mant contends, ex- clusively and inclusively the vehicle of spii*itual gi'ace. The high metonymic language of the Greek and Latin fathers of the primitive church, when speaking of the two sacraments, gave rise to the twofold error of Popery, viz. that of spiritual regeneration as inseparably connected with water baptism, and that of tran substantiation as connected (and that also inseparably) with the celebration of the eucharist. It appears to me that these must stand ©r fall together. No. X. Richard Hooker died A. D. 1600. See page 105, in the body of this work. No. XI. Dean Noel died A. D. 1602. The authority of Dean Noel's Catechism, which was approved and sanctioned by both houses of convocation, must be considered to be of great weight in determining the doctrines of the Reformation, and in explaining the formularies of our own reformed Church. To this formula then let us u ake our appeal. *' Ma.'Jsr, Thou seemest to make the water but » cert^n figure of divine things. 157 " Scholar. It is a figure, indeed, but not empty or deceitful, but sucb as hath the truth of the things them- selves joined and knit unto it. For, as in baptism God truly delivei'eth us for^veness of sins and newness of life, so do we certainly receive them. For, God forbid that we should think that God mocketh and deceiveth us witk vain figures. " Master. Do we not then obtain forgiveness of sins by the outward washing or sprinkling of water .^ " Scholar. No. For only Christ hath with his blood washed, and clean washed away the spots of our souls. This honour, therefore, it is unlawful to give to the out- ward element. But the Holy Ghost, as it were, sprink- ling our consciences with that holy blood, wiping away all the spots of sin, maketh us clean before God. Of this cleansing of our sins, we have a seal and pledge in the sacrament. " Master. But whence have we regeneration ? " Scholar. None other ways but from the death and resurrection of Christ. For, by the force of Chrises death our old man is, after a certain manner, crucified and mortified, and the corruptness of our nature is, as it were, buried, so that it no more live and be strong in us. And by the beneficial mean of his resurrection, he giveth us grace to be newly formed unto a new hfe, to obey the righteousness of God. " Master. Do all, generally, and without difference, receive this grcuie ? ^^ Scholar. The only faithful receive this fruit; ^ut the unbelieving, in refusing the promises offered them hy God, shut up the entry against themselves, and go away empty. Yet do they not thereby make that the sacraments lose their Jorce and nature.'''' This extract accounts clearly for the language which I5S our Heformers used when thc}'^ spake, in general terms, of the eiEcacy of the sacraments. When they attribute saving efficacy to them as signs and seals of grace, they do it on a sup})f)silion that the receivers are previously partakers of grace, showing itpc4f by faith and repentance. Bui: they also take caie to distinguish between a A^ortliy and un- wortliy participation, a^•erring, in the latter case, that no spiritual benefit is obtained, as Dean Noel has done in this catechism. The remark will apply also to the writ* ings of the primitive fathers. No. XII. Dr. Fume dial A. D. 1589- From the notes of Dr. Fulke, master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, on the New Testament, which were pubhshed in the year 1589, and dedicated to Queen Ehzabeth, I subjoin two extracts, one on John, iii. 5, viz. Dr. Manfs text ; and the other on Rom. vi. 4, which is one of the passages quoted in Dr. Manfs Tract. This work was written for the pui-pose of confuting the Popish notes annexed to the Rhemish translation of the Scrip- ture by the English Papists, who fled to Rhemes after the death of Mary. The author has printed the Popish comment first, and then his own. " RiiEM. 5. Borne again of •water. As no man can enter into this world, nor have his life and being in the same, except he be borne, of his carnal parents : no more can a man enter into the life and state of grace which is in Christ, or attaine to Hfe evei'lastixig, unlesse he be lx)rne and baptised of water and the Holy Ghost. Whereby we see, first, this sacrament to be called our regeneration or second birth, in respect of our natural and carnal. 159 which was before : secondly .^ that this sacrament consistetli of an extemall element of water, and internall vertue of the Holy Spirit : whei-ein it excelleth John's baptisme, which had the extemall element, but not the spirituall gi-ace. Thirdly, that no man can enter into the king- dom of God, nor into the fellowship of holy church without it, &c Lastly, it is proved that this sacrament giveth grace ex opere operato, that is, of the work itself (which all Protestants deny), because it so breedeth our spirituall hfe in God, as our carnal birth giveth the life of the world." " FuLKE. 2. It is not necessary, in this place, by wa- ter to understand materiall water, but rather the purify- ing grace of Christ, as in the 4th chap. ver. 11, whereof the outward washing with water in baptisme is an outward sign orseale, which is also termed fire, Matt. iii. 11. The water therefore in baptisme is not our regeneration pro- perly, but a sacrament or scale thereof. Isidorus Origin, lib. 7. cap. de Splr'itu Saucto : Aliud est aqua sacra- menti, aliud aqua quae significat Spiritum Dei. Aqua enim sacramenti visibilis est, aqua Spiritils Sancti invLsi- bilis est. Ista abluit corpus et significat quid sit in anima : per ilium autem Spiritum Sanctum anima mundatiu: et saginatur. " Secondly, Where you say that John's baptisme had not the spintuall grace, it is false : for it had remission of sms joined unto it. Mar. i. 4. Although not of the mini- stry of John, but of Christ, the fountain of all grace. " Thirdly, Where you say no man can enter into the kingdom of heaven, without extemall baptisme, you teach the contrary yourselfe soone after, sa^ung, that in two cases it is not necessary, &c. " Finally, When the water, in this text, signifieth die pvirifying grace of Christ, rather than the outward element of baptisme, here can be no argument drawn out 160 of this plax:e, that sacraments conferre grace of the work wrought, but according to the dispensation of God's Spirit, which worketh according to his own pleasure, as in this chap. ver. 8, and 1 Cor. 12. ox noMAXs, vi. 4. " Rhem. We are buried.] Remission of sinne, new life, sanctification, and justification, are given by baptism, because it resembleth in us, and applyeth to us, Christ's death and resurrection, and engrafteth us into Him."" *' FuLKE. Baptism is a scale of the justification by faith, and therefore assureth us of remission of sinne, renova- tion, and sanctification, tliat God giveth unto us being justified. The application of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, is the proper work of the Holy Spirit, by whom we are regenerate, which is resembled and ratified by the externall seale of baptism, which testifieth that we are engrafted into the similitude of his death and resur- rection." No. XIII. TJiomas Rogers. In the early part of the reign of James I. a small vo.t lume was published on the XXXIX. Articles, bearing this title, " The Faith, Doctrine, and Religion, professed and protected in the Church of England, and Dominions of the same, expressed in XXXIX. Articles. The said Articles analysed into Propositions, and the Propositions, proved to be agreeable both to the written Word of ^, God, and to the extant Confessions of all the neighbour y Churches christianly reformed. Perused, and by the law- ful Authority of the Church of England, allowed to be i pubhc." The author, Thomas Rogers, appejirs to hav© f 161 been a Suffolk clergyman, and the book Is dedicated to the then Archbishop of Canterbury. From this valuable work I add an extract or two. The eleventh of the several propositions, into which the XXVth Article is divided, is as follows : " All which receive the sacraments, receive not there- withal the things signified by th^ sacraments. " The proof from God's word. *' We read in the Holy Scripture, that " Some persons do receive the sacraments, and the things signified by the sacraments ; which are the remission of sins, and other spiritual graces from God : and so re- ceived was the sacrament o£ baptism, of Cornelius, Acts, X. 47; and the Lord's supper, of the good disciples, Mat. xxvi. 26, &c. ; and the godly Corinthians^ 1 Cor. xi. 22. " Some again receive the sacraments, but not the things by them signified ; so received was baptism of Simon Magus, Acts, viii. 13 ; and the Lord's supper of Judas, John, xiii. 26 : and so receive the atheists, libertines, and impenitent persons, 1 Cor. xi. 27, &c. " And some receive not the sacraments at all, and yet are partakers of the things by the sacraments signified : such a communicant was the tliief upon the cross, Luke, xxiii. 43, 44. " It is apparent hoW salvation is promised to such as are baptised ; yet not simply in respect of their baptism, but if they do believe, Mark, xvi. 16. •' Again, St. Paul saith, whosoever shall eat the bread, or drink tlje cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of Christ, 1 Cor. xi* 27. ** And this the purer churches every where do ac- knowledge, Conf. Helv. 1, art. 20. and 2, cap. 19, 21. BasL art. 3, 6. Bohem. cap. 11, 13. Gal. art. 24, 36, 1613 87. Belg, art. 33, 35. August, art. 8, 13. Saxon, art 13, 14. Witterab. cap. 10. Suevica, cap. 17. " The adversaries unto this truth. ** The Papists, therefore, be in a wrong opinion, which deliver tliat the sacraments are not only scah^ but also causes of grace ; and " Tlie sacraments do give grace, even because they be delivered and received ex opere opcrafoy The second proposition drawn from the XXVIIth Article is this : — " Baptism i?> a .-^ign or seal of the regeneration or new birth of Christians. " Tlie proof' from God's word. j *' Baptism by St. Paul is called the washing of thfe new birth (Tit. iii. 5) ; by others the sacrament of the new birth, to signify how they which rightly (as all do Xot) receive the same (see afore Art. 25, Prop. 11), are in- grafted into the body of Christ (1 Cor. xii. 13) ; as by a seal be assured from God, that theii' aiis be pardoned and forgiven (Acts, ii. 38) ; and themselves adopted for the children of God (Tit. iii. 5) ; confirmed in the faith (Mai'k, xvi. 16) ; and do increase in faith by virtue q£^ prayer iiutu God (Acts, ii. 41, 4f^). " And tins is tl)e constant doctrine of all churches, protestanl and rdorniL-d.'" SECOND CLASS, Beginning xvith Citations from Bishop Andrews, in chronological Order, or Jiearlj^ so, to the present. Time. No. XIV. Bishop Andrews died A. D. 1626. Dr. Mant makes a quotation from Bishop Andrews. The following extracts will, I think, show, that the Bishop never conceived that the new birth of the Spirit was exclusively and inclusively united with baptism. " Take Christ as a purchaser : the purchase is made, the price is paid ; yet is not the state perfect, unless there be investiture that raaketh it complete. Perquisitio, that very word is ChristV; but the investiture is by the Spirit. What will ye that 1 say ? Unless we be joined to him, as well as he to us : as he to us by our flesh, so we to him by his Spirit ; nothing is done. — - Ye know that it is the first question the Apostle asked, * Have ye received ike Holy Ghost since ye believed f If not, all else is to no purpose. Without it, we are STILL (as Jude calleth us) animales, Spiritum non ha- BENTEs. And this is a certain rule. Qui non habet, he that hath not his Spirit, is no)ie of his ; Clirist profiteth him nothing. As nothing is done for us, so nothing can be done by us, if he (the Spirit) come not. No means on our part avail us aught. (1 .) Not baptism ; for Nisi ex Spiritu, if he come not, well may it wash SOIL from our skix, but no stain from our soul : NO LAVER OF REGENERATION WITHOUT RENEWING OF THE M 2 164 Holy Ghost. (2.) No preaching neither; for that I* but a letter that- killcth, except the Spii-it come too and quicken it. (S.) No sacramoit ; we have a plmn text for it ; the flesh profiteth notliing, if the Lord and give? of life (the Spirit) be away. (4.) To canc\ndc,noprai/er: for, nisi, unless the Spirit help our infirmity and make intercession widi us, we neither know how, nor what ta pray." P. 632. " How much it importeth us to receive him (the Holy Ghost) we may esteem by this, that St. Paul makes it his article of Imprimis; begins with it first, as the most needful. " But then why, recepistis Spiritum Sanctum ? Thft Holy Ghost ? No receiving will serve but of him. The reason is, it is nothing here below that we seek ; but to heaven we aspire. Then if to heaven we shall, something from heaven must thither exalt us. If partakers of the divine nature, we hope to be that can be no other- wise than by receiving one in whom the divine nature is. He being received^ imparts if to us, and so makes its consortes divmce naturae ; that is, the Holy Ghost. " For, as an absolute necessity there is that we receive the Spirit, else can we not live the life of nature ; so, no less absolute, that we receive the Holy Spirit, else wb CANNOT LIVE THE Lll'E OF GRACE RcCCpistis Spi- ritum, gives the life natural ; recepistis Spiritum Sanc- tum, gives the life spikitual. " Look, how in the first Adam we come to this present life, by sending the breath of life into our bodies. So, in the second, come we to our hold in the other lijef by sending the Holy Ghost into our souls."" P. 644. " Si non recepistis, without him received, receive what we will, nothing will do us good. Receive the word, it h but a killing letter. Receive baptism, it is but JohiC»bap- ]65 ttsm, BUT A DARREN ELEMEilT. Rece'lVC hlS flcsh, it profiteth not ; receive Christ, it will not do : for he that hath not His spirit is none of his. So Christ renounces liim, he hath no pai't in him - - To conclude ; if zee rC' ceive not Him^ ivc he hut animales, Spiritum non haben- tcs Et naturalis liomo^ the; natural man that kevi-:r received the SriRiT, neitlier perceiveth nor re- ceiveth the things of God, hath nothing- to do •with them. *' The next point is to certify ourselvps, whetlier we have received this Spirit, or no. " Of the Spirit, the signs are familiar. For^ if it he in us (as the natural spirit doth), at the heart it will heat ; at the mouth it will hreatJie ; at the pulse it will be felt. Some of these may ; but all of these will not deceive us. " At the heart we begin ; for that is first. Dabo vobis cor novum et spiiitum novum. A new heart and a nezo spirit we shall find. We shall be renewed in the spirit of our mind - - - TJiat a nezo spirit is received, no hetn ter way to know than hy new tlioughts and desires. That he tliat watches well the current of his desires and thoughts, may know whether and what spirit it is he is led by, OLD or new We shall know the Spirit is con» ceivcd by the fear of God in our hearts ; it is as the sys- tole or drawing in, to refrain us from evil. And we shall know it by the love of God there shed abroad in our hearts : which is as the diastole or dilating it out, to all that good is." P. 645. *' Without works, there it (the Spirit) may not be - - No Spirit, if no work. For usque adeoproprium est ope- rari Spiritui, ut nisi operetur, nee sit : so kindly is it for the Spirit to be working, as if jt v.oek not, it is not ; there is none to wokk,"" p. G^Q. .m8 166 No. XV. Joseph Medc died A. D. 1638. Mede is twice quoted by Dr. Mant, with the appro- priate qualification of the Learned Joseph IVIede, P. 36. His language, Disc. XXVI. Book I. is as follows: " None can be members or citizens of the kingdom of God, but only those who are the sons of God ; the means to become the sons of God is by regeneration or new birth. This is the mystery our Saviour told Nicodemus of, when he came to him by night ; ' Except a man* (saith oiu* Saviour) ' be born again, he cannot enter into * the kingdom of God.' John, iii. 3. Now, regeneration or new birth consists of these two parts : Repentance to- wards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ; ac- cording to that which the Apostle Paul told the elders of the Church of Ephesus, Acts, xx. 21. ' that he had tes- * tified both to the Jews and Greeks, repentance towards * God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ;' that is iJie zchole mijsterTj of regeneration, tcherehy a m&n he- comes the child of God, and a member of his Kingdom - - " These two, therefore, our Saviour distinguisheth, where he saith. Repent and believe the Gospel Both joined together make the new birth, or a new man ; even as in natural generation, the soul being united to tlie body makes a natural man Those, therefore, who make faith a part of repentance, understand by repentance, the whole regeneration of a sinner " Repentance is a' turning of the whole heart from Satan and sin, to serve God in newness of Hfe. I say, from Satan and sin, because he that lives in sin, serves the devil, arid belongs to his jurisdiction. And, there- fore, in our baptism, wiifcH is the seal of ouu new 167 fiiitTR, we profess our repentance by renouiicing the devil and aJl his works ^ " Thus have we seen the several degrees and steps of contrition and so now we are arrived at the main cardo and hinge of repentance, the joint where the two parts thereof, aversion and conversion^ meet and are knit together Tliis is then the main joint of. repentance, where tlie Spirit and grace of God (the vis TrXartv-ii of our REGENERATION, wliicli from the beginning stirred our hearts) gives that great and powerful lift which doth the deed. Here, and not before now, that faith in the Gos- pel, which applies and reaches hold of Christ, first comes in to give life unto repentance, as a soul unto a body. Which union of faith and repentance, makes the regene- ration of a spiritual man ; as the union of the soul and the body makes the generation of a natural man. And as in natural generation, the soul is not infused in the first conception, but after the body hath been in some measure fashioned and formed ; so in our regenerationj or generation spiritual, justifying faith - - hath no place till repentance be come to the last degree of contrition. " To use a simihtude from weaving, repentance is a* the warp of the Gospel, and the Gos]iel the woof of re- pentance. Repentance is as the wai-p which the Gospel, by the shuttle of Jciith, runs through as the woof, whence proceeds the web of regeneration." p. 107 — 113. Third edition, 1672. No. XVI. Bishop Davenant died A. D. 1G41. From Bishop Davenant's Exposition of the Epistle to the Colossians, a work which cannot be too highly com- mended, I extract the follomng passages, occurring in his n 4 155 exposition of the 12th verse of chap. ii. To this verse Dr. Mant has referred in support of his own view on the subject. " Externa ablutio non afFerre potest Christiano solidum solatium, nisi sensiat insuper haec interna effecta mortifir cationis et vivificationis. Nihil enim ad salutem conducit baptismus qua nudum lavacrum corporis, nisi insuper fiat nobis xarpoy vaXifyivio-icc,;^ Tit. iii. 5. Nam recte Cyprianus de Zelo; Christi nomen induere, et non pfr Christi viam pergerCy quid aliud quam prcBVftricatioest divini nominis? Christi nomen induimus, cum externum baptismum susr- cipimus ; sed Christi viam ingredimur, cum mundo morir mur ut vivamus Dep. " Qui ambulant secundum concupiscentias carnis non possunt Deum incusare, aut baptismi inefficaciam, sed seipsos qui Spiritui resistunt ; cui si parerent, peccatum in illis quotidie debihtaretur, imago justiciae renovaretiu-j fieret denique illud realiter, quod in baptismo factum fuit sacravnentaliter. "Dicimur in baptismo sepulti cumChristo,resurrexisse etiam in Christo vel per Christum, ne haec supernaturali^ effecta vel externo elemento vel nostris propriis viribus tri- buamus. - - ^ - -. - - " Per Jidem operationis Dei\ Perventum jam est ad instrumentum illud cujus ope et adminiculo supradicta baptismi beneficia apprehenduntur et possidentur : si enim haec fides desit, quamvis offerantur thesauri gratia; in Sa- cramento ex parte Dei, non tamen recipiuntur ex partfe Tiostrd, sed repelluntur infidelitate. ** Perfid£ni\ Quod ad primum, non frustra est qviod fides exigitur ab Apostolo, ut beneficium spiritualis resur- rectlonis obtineamus. Nam ut in baptismo adultorum re- quiritur fides prsevia, juxta dictum Salvatoris, Mar. x^a.lO: sic ab illis qui baptisantur cum jam infantes §xnt, requiritur 1^ fides subsequens ; qiiani si ncai praestiterint postea, retinent externam tantummcdo baptismi sanctificationem, interna sanctificationis effecta non babent. Unde Aiicmstinus Quaest. ex Nov. Test. Quasst. 59. Qui baptismum putat carnali ratione co7isistere, hicnoii est spiritualis; nee do* num coelente poterit consequi, qui se per aquam noii per ^dem commidari credit. " Hujus rei rationem habemus firmam et perspicuam ; qiua scilicet substantia sacramentorum est ipse Christus, virtus et vita eorum omnis a Christo : jam vero Christus non attingitur ab infideli ; hujusmodi enira homines dum sacramenta percipiunt, quia corde sicci sunt, ct mente aridi, lamhunt quidem illi petram, sed inde nee mel su-" g-unt, nee oleum ; ut alicubi Cyprianus. " Usu^. Ne operi operato fidamus cum Papistis, sed inquiramus insuper an adsint nobis caetera onuiia, sine cpibus interna baptismi efFecta non habentur." No. XVI. Bishop Hall died A. D. 1656. , From the Works of Bishop Hall, Vol VII. p. 22S, Epistle 4, to Lady Honoria Hey. " Children are the blessing of parents ; and baptism is the blessing of children and parents : wherein there is not only use, but necessity : necessity, not in respect so much of the end, as of the precept. God hath enjoined it .to the. comfort of parents and behoof of children: which, therefore, as it may not be superstitiously hastened, so not negligently deferred. .- " That the contempt of baptism daraneth, is past all doubt: but that the constrained absence thereof should send infants to hell, is a cruel raslmess. It is not their 170 an to die early : death is a punishment, not an offence; an effect of sin, not a cause of torment; they want nothing but time, wliich they could not command. Because they CQuld not live a while longer, that, therefore, tlicy should ^e everlastingly, is the hard sentence of a bloody religion. *' I am only sorry, that so harsh an opinion should be graced witli the name of a father, so revered, so divine: whose sentence yet let no man plead by halves. He, who held it impossible for a child to be saved unless the baptis- mal water were poured on his face, held it also as impos- sible, for the same infant, unless the sacramental bread were received into his mouth. There is the same ground forbodi ; the same enor in both, a weakness fit for forget- fulness ; see yet, how ignorant or ill-meaning posterity could single out the one half of the opinion for truth, and condemn the other of falsehood. In spite of whom, one part shall easily condemn the other; yea, without all force: since both cannot stand, both will fall together for company. The same mouth which said. Unless ye he horn agxiin of xcater, and the Holy Ghost, said also. Except ye eat thefiesh of' the son of man, and drink his Mood: an equal necessity of both. And lest any should plead dif- ferent interpretations, the same St. Austin avers this lat- ter opinion also, concerning the necessary communicating 6f children, to have been once the common judgment of the Church of Rome : a sentence so displeasing, that you shall find the memory of it noted with a black coal, and wiped out in that famous bill of expurgations. *' Had the ancient church held this desperate sequel, what strange, and yet wilful cruelty had it been in them, to defer baptism a whole year long : till Easter ; or that Sunday which liath his name, I think, from the white robes of the baptised ! yea, what an adventure was it in $ome, to adjourn it till their age, with Constantine : if. 171 being unsure of their life, they hqid been sure the preven- tion of death would have inferred damnation ! " Look unto that legal sacrament of circumcision ; which, contrary to the fancies of our Anabaptists, directly answers this evangeUcal. Before the eiglith day, they could not be circumcised: before the eighth day, they might die. If dying the seventh day, they were necessa- rily condemned ; either the want of a day is a sin, or God eometimes cop.demneth not for sin : neither of them pos- «ible; neither according with the justice of the Lawgiver. ** Or, if from this parallel, you please to look either to reason or example, the case is clear, " Reason. No man that hath faith can be condemn- ed ; for Christ dwells hi our hearts by faith ; and he, in whom Christ dwells, cannot be a reprobate. Now, it is possible, a man may have a saving faith before baptism : Abraham first believed to justification; then, aftei*, re- ceived the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the righteous- ness of that faith, which he had when he was yet uncir- cumcised ; therefore some, dying before their baptism, tnay, yea, must be saved. Neither was Abraham's case singular : he was the father of all them also which believe, not being circumcised : these or they are his sons in faith, so in righteousness, so in salvation : uncircumcision cannot hinder, where faith admitteth : these, following his steps of behef before the sacrament, shall, doubtless, rest in his bosom without the sacrament ; without it, as fatally absent, not as wilfully neglected. It is not the water, but the faith : not the putting aioay the filiJi of thejlesh, salth St. Peter, hit the stipulation of a good conscience; for, * Who takes baptism without a full faith,** saith Jerome^ * takes the water, takes not the SDirit.' ' Whence is this * so great virtue of the water, that it should touch the * body, and cleanse the heart,' saith Austin, ' unless by / *d ' the power of the word; not spoken, but believed?' « Thou * seest water,' saith Ambrose ; ' every water heals not : * that water only heals which hath the grace of God an- * nexed :' and, * if there be any grace in the water,' saith Basil, ' it is not of the nature of the water, but of the- * presence of the Spirit.' Baptism is indeed, as St. Am- brose styles it, * the pawn and image of our resurrection;* yea, as Basil, ' the jx)wer of God to resurrection :' but, as Ignatius expounds this phrase aright, believing in his death, we are by baptism made partakers of his resurrec- tion. Baptism, therefore, without faith, cannot save a man ; and, by faith, doth save him : and faith, without baptism, where it cannot be had ; not where it may be had, and is contemned, may save him. That Spirit, which wcwks by means, will not be tied to means," &c. No. XVIII. Archbishop Usher died A. D. 1656. From Archbishop Usher's Body of Divinity I select file following extracts on the subject : " Wliat sacraments be there of the New Testament? " Only two : to wit, baptism, succeeding in the place m£ circumcision ; and the supper of the Lord, answering to the passover. By the former we have our admission into the true Church of God : by the latter we are nou- irished and preserved in the Church after our admission. " What is baptism ? " It is the first sacrament of the New Testament, by the washing of water (Eph. v. 26), representing the power- ful washing of the blood and Spirit of Christ (1 Cor. vi. 11; Heb. X. 22) ; and so sealing our regeneration or new birth, oiu" entrance into the covenant of grace, and our engraft'' 173 Ing Ifito Christ, and into the body of Christ, which is his Church (John, iii. 5 ; Tit. iii. 5 ; Acts, viii. 27). The word baptism signifieth in general any washing : but here it is specially taken for that sacramental washing which sealeth unto those tliat are within God"'s covenant, their birth in Christ, and entrance into Christianity." After stating the outward visible sign and the in*- ward spiritual grace m baptism, to which the reader o( these Remarks is requested to refer, the Archbishop goes on thus: " But is Christ and the cleansing' pozcer of Ms blood onli/f barely signified in the sacrameiit of baptism? " Nay, more : the inwai'd things are really exhibited to the believer as well as the outward ; tliere is that sacra- mental union between them, that the one is conveyed and sealed up by tlie other. Hence are those phrases of be- ing born again of water and of tlie Holy Ghost^ John, iiL .5. Of cleayising by the washing ofxvater^ Eph. v- 29. So, Arise and be baptised, and ivash away thy sins. Acts, xxii. 16. So, Rom. vi. 3, We are buried with Christ in baptism, &c. The sacraments being rightly received do effect that which they do represent. " Are all they then that are partakers of the outward; washing of baptism, partakers also of the inward wash- ing of the Spirit ? Doth this sacrament seal up their, spiritual ingrafting into Christ to all zcho extcrnalhj receive it? " Surely no. Though God hath ordained these out-, ward means for the conveyance of the inward grace to our souls ; yet there is no necessity that we should tie the working of God''s Spirit to the sacraments more than to the word. The promises of salvation, Christ, and all his benefits, are preached and offered to all in tlie ministry of the word : yet all hearers have not them conveyed to their 174 souls by the Spirit ', but those v;hom God hath ordained to life. So in the sacraments the outward elements are dispensed to all who make an outward profession of the Gospel (for, in infants, their being boni in the bosom of the Church is instead of an outward profession), because man is not able to distinguish com from chaff: but the inward grace of the sacrament is not comnumicated to all, but to those Only who are heirs of those promises whereof the sacraments are sealsv For, without a man have his name in the covenant, the seal set to it confirms nothing to him. " What is the advantage then or benefit of baptism ta a common Christian ? " The same as was the benefit of circumcision to a Jew outward. Rom. ii. 8. Rom. iii. 1, 2. There is a general grace of baptism, which all the baptised partake of as a common favour; and that is their admission into the visible body of the Church, their matriculation and out- ward incorporating into the number of the worshippers of God by external comraimion. And so as circumcision was not only a seal of the righteousness which is by faiths but, as an overplus, God appointed it to be like a wall of .separation between Jew and Gentile : so is baptism a badge of an outward member of the Church, a distinction from the common rout of heathen; and God thereby seals a right upon the party baptit;cd to his ordinances, that he may use them as his privileges, and wait for an inward blessing by them. Yet this is but the porch, the shell, and outside ; all that are outwardly received into the visible Church, are not spiritually engrafted into the mystical body of Christ. Baptism is akcays attended upon by that general grace ^ but not always with th'.t special. 175 ** To teJtom then is baptism effectual to the sealing ivp this inward and special grace ? " We must here distinguish of persons baptised. Tlie Church doth not only baptise those that are gro^vn and of years ; if any such, being bred Pagans, be brought witliin the pale of the Church, and testify their competent un- derstanding of Christianity, and profess their faith in the Lord Jesus, and in God's precious promises of remission of sins by his blood, and their earnest desire to be sealed with baptism for the strengthening of their souls in tliii faith : but the Church also baptiseth her infants, such as being born within her bosom of belie^^ng parents are within the covenant, and so have a right unto the seal thereofl - " Doth the inrcard grace alicays accompany the ouU 'ti'ardsign in those of years baptised? " No : but only then when the profession of their feitli is not outward only and counterfeit, but sincere an^ hearty ; they laying hold on Christ, offered in the sacia- ment, by a lively faith, which is the hand to receive tlier mercies offered . Acts, viii. 37. If thou believest xcith 9II thy Ju^art, thoic may est be baptised ; saith Philip to the eunuch. For it were absurd to extend the benefit of the Seal beyond the covenant. Now the covenant is made only to the faithful, John, i. 10; Mark, xvi. 16. He that believeth and is baptised sliall be saved; but he that be- Ueveth 7wt, whether he be baptised or no, sJiall be cov" demned. Simon Magus (Acts, viii. 13) and Julian, and Uiousands of hypocrites and formalists, shall find no help> in the day of the Lord by the holy water of baptism, with- out it be to increase their judgment. J " But ti'hat say ycni ofiiifants baptised, that are born, in the Church ; doth the inzaard grace in theirr baptism, ahvays attend upon the outward sign f }7Cy '* Surely no : the sacrament of baptism is effectual irf infants only, to those and to all those who belong unto the elcx^tion of grace, which thing, though we (in the judgment of chai'ity) do .judge of every particular infant,* yet we have no ground to judge so of all in general: or if Ave should judge so, yet it is not any judgment of cer- tainty ; w^e may be mistaken. " /* every elect hxfant then actually sancttfied and united unto Christ in and by baptism ? " We must here also distinguish of elect infants bap- tised, whereof some die in theii- infancy, and never come to the use of reason ; others God hath appointed to live' and enjoy the ordinary means of faith and salvation. " What is to be tliovght of elect infants "who die in their irvfancy^ and liave no other outward means ofsaU vation but tlieir baptism ? *' Doubtless, in all those the inward grace is united to the outward sign, and the Holy Ghost doth as truly , and really, and actually, apply the merits and blood of Christ in the justifying and sanctifpng virtue unto the soul of the elect infant, as the minister doth the water to its body, and the invisible grace of the sacrament is con- veyed by the outward means. " But how can an infant be capable of tJte grace oftlie- sacrament ? " Very well. Though infants be not capable of thtf grace of the sacrament by that way whereby the grown are, by heai'ing, conceiving, believing; yet it followeth not that infants are not capable in and by another way/ It is easy to distinguish between the gift conveyed, and the manner of conveying it. Faith is not of absolute ne-- cessity to all GocVs elect, but only to those to whom God affords means of believing. It is the application of Christ^s righteousness that justificth us, not our appreliending it : 177 God can supply the defect of faith I)y his sanctifying Spirit, which can do all things on our part which faith should do. Do we not know that the sin of Adam is im- puted to childi-en, and they defiled by it, though they be not capable to understand it ? Even so the righteousness of Christ may be, and is by God's secret and unknown way to elect infants : and so to those that are born deaf, and fools, not capable of understanding. For, though God tieth us to means, yet not himself: He that hath said of infants, to them belongs the kingdom of God, knows how to settle upon them the title of the kingdom. And we have no reason to think, but that even before or in, at or by the act of baptism, the Spirit of Christ doth unite the soul of the elect infant to Christ, and clothe it with his righteousness, and impute unto k the title of a son or daughter by adoption, and the unage of God by sanctifi- cation ; and so fit it for the state of glory. " Bid what is to he thought of the effect of baptism in those elect iirfants, rcJiom God hath appointed to live to years of dls(y>'etlon? "In them we have no wai'rant to promise constantly an extraordinary work, to whom God intends to afford ordinary means. For, though God do sometimes sanctify from the womb, as in Jeremy and John Baptist, some- times in baptism, as he pleaseth ; 3'et it is hard to affinn (as some do) that every elect infant doth ordinarily, before or in baptism, receive initial regeneration, and the seed of faith and grace. For, if there were such an habit of grace then infused, it could not be so utterly lost or secreted as never to show itself, but by being attained by new instruction. But we may rather deem and judge that baptism is not actually effectual to justify and sanctify, until the party do believe and embrace the promises. N 178 " Is not baptism then, for the most part, a vain empty show, consistinff of shadows without the substance, Offid a sign without the thing signijicd ? " No ; it is always an effectual seal to all those that are heirs of the covenant of grace : the promises of God, touching justification, remission, adoption, are made and sealed in baptism to every elect child of God ; then to be actually enjoyed, when the party baptised shall actually lay hold upon them by faith. Thus baptism, to every elect infant, is a seal of the righteousness of Christ, to be extraordinarily applied by the Holy Ghost, if it die in its infancy ; to be apprehended by faith, if it live to years of discretion, so that as baptism administered to those of years is not effectual unless they believe ; so we can make no comfortable use of our baptism, administered in our infancy, unless we believe. The righteousness of Christ and all the promises of grace were, in my baptism, estated upon me and sealed up unto me on God's part : but then I come to have the profit and benefit of them, when I come to understand what grant God in baptism, hath sealed unto me, and actually to lay hold upon it by faith. " Explain this more clearly. " We know that an estate may be made unto an infant, and in his infancy he hath right imto it, though not actual possession of it, until such years. Now, the time of the child's incapability, the use and comfort of this estate is lost indeed; but the right and title is not vain and empty, but true and real, and stands firmly secured unto the child, to be claimed what time soeverhe is capable of it. Even so infants elect have Christ and all his benefits sealed up unto them in the sacrament of baptism ; yet, through their uncapablcness, tliey have not actual fruition of them until God give them actual faith to apprehend them. Is baptism lost then, which is administered in our infancy ? Was it a vain and enspty 179 jceremony? No; it was a complete and efFectual sacra- ment; and God's invisible graces were truly sealed up under visible signs. And tliough the use and comfort of baptism be not for the present enjoyed by the infant ; yet by the parent it is, who believes God's promises for him- self and for his seed, and so by the whole congregation : and the things then done shall be actually effectual to the infant, whenever it shall be capable to make use of them."" No. XIX. Blsliop Taylor died A. D. 1667. See page 100 of this work. No. XX. ArcJibisJiop Leigldmi died A. D. 1684'. Extract from Archbishop Leighton's Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Peter. *' Chap. iii. ver. 21. The like figure whereunto bap- tism doth even now save us (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but) the answer of a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. *' In which words we have, 1. The end of baptism. 2. The proper virtue or efficacy of it for that end. And, 3. A resemblance in both these to Noah's preservation in the flood. *' 1. The end of baptism, to save us. This is the great common end of all the ordinances of God, that one high mark they all aim at. And the great and common mis- take of them is, that they are not so understood and used. Sic. This doth save us. " 2. The next thing is the power and virtue of this 180 hieans for its end. That baptism hath a power is clear, in that it is so expressly said, it doth save us : which kind of power is as clear in the Avay of it here expressed ; not by a natural force of the element, though adopted and sacramcntally used ; it can only wash away the filth of the body ; its physical efiicacy or power reaches no further : but it is in the hand of the Spirit of God, as other sacra^ ments, and as'the word itself is, to purify the conscience and convey grace and salvation to the soul, by the refer- ence it hath to and union \nth that which it represents. It saves bi/ the answer of a good conscience unto God, and it affords that bi/ the resurrection of Jesus Christ Jrom the dead. " Thus then we have a true account of the power of this, and so of other sacraments, and a discovery of the error of two extremes; (1.) Of those that ascribe too much to them, as if they wrought by a natural inlierent vu'tue, and carried grace in them insejparahhj . (2.) Of those that ascribe too little to them, making them only signs and badges of our profession. Signs tliey are, but more than signs merely representing; they are means exhibiting, and seals confirming grace to the JaitJtful. But the working of faith, and the conveying of Christ into the soul to be received by faith, is not a thing put into them to do of themselves, but still in the supreme hand that appointed them : and he indeed both causes the souls of his o^vn to receive there his Seals with faith, and makes them effectual to confirm that faith which receives them so. They are then, in a word, neither empty signs to them that believe, nor effectual causes of grace to them that be- lieve not. " The mistake, on botli sides, arises from the want of duly considering the relative natui-e of these seals, and that kind of union thftt is betwixt them and the grace they 181 represent ; which is real though not natural or physical, as they speak. So that though they do not save all that partake of them, yet they do really and effectually save believers (for whose salvation they are means), as the other external ordinances of God do. Though they ha^e not that power which is peculiar to the iVuthor of them, yet a power they have, such as befits their nature, and by reason of which they are truly said to sanctify and justify, and so to save, as the Apostle here avers of baptism. " Now, that which is intended for our help, our carnal minds are ready to turn into a hinderance and disadvan- tage. The Lord representing invisible things to the eye, and confirming his promises even by visible seals ; we are apt, by the grossness of our unspmtual hearts, instead of stepping up by that which is eartlily to the divine spiri- tual things represented, to stay on the outward element, and go no further. Therefore the Apostle, to lead us into the inside of the seal of baptism, is very clear in de- signing the effect and fruit of it. Not (says he) pidt'mg axcay the jiltli of the flesh ; and water, if you look no further, can do no more. There is an invisible impurity upon our nature, chiefly on olu" invisible part, our soul. This washing means the taking away of that ; and "vohere it reaches its true effect, it doth so purify the conscience, and makes it good, ti*uly so in the sight of God, who is the judge of it. " Consider, 1. It is a pitiful thing to see the ignorance of the most professing Christianity, and partaking of the outward seals of it, yet not knowing what they mean, nor apprehending the spiritual dignity and virtue of them. They are blind in the mysteries of the kingdom, and not so much as sensible of that blindness. And being igno- rant of the nature of these holy things, they cannot have a due esteem of them, which arises out of the view of :n 3 18^i their iiiwiU'd worth and efficacy. A confused fancy they have of some good in them, and this rising to die other extreme, to a superstitious confidence in the simple per- formance and participation of them ; as if that carried some inseparable virtue with it, which none could miss of who are sprinkled with the waters of baptism, and share in the elements of bread and wine in the Lord*'s supper. " And what is the utmost plea of the most for their title to heaven ? That in these relative and external things they are Christians, are baptised, hear the word, and are admitted to the Lord's tabic ; not considering how many have gone through all these, and daily are going on in the ways of death ; never coming near Jesus Christ, w7io is the waz/, tJie truth, and the life, whom the word and the seals of it hold forth to believers, assuring them that they are washed in his blood, and quickened with his life, and made like him, and coheirs of glory with him. " 2. Even they that have some clearer notion of the nature and fruit of the seals of grace, yet are in a practical error, that they look not with due diligence into them- selves; inquiring after the efficiency of them in their hearts, &c. &c." Subsequently the Archbishop says, " Now that bap- tism doth apply and seal to the believer his interest in the death and resurrection of Christ, the Apostle St, Paul teaches to the full, Rom. vi. 4. Wc are buried with him (says he) by hajpt'ism into his death, that, like as Christ •was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we sliould also walk in newness of life. Where the dipping into the waters is referred to, as representing oiu" dying with Christ ; and the return thence, as expres- sive of our rising with him." Under his last division, viz. " the resemblance of baptism with the saving;^ of Noah iii tlie flood^" he adds. 183 ** There Is further anotlier thing specified by the Apostle, wherein, though it be a little hard, yet he chiefly intends the parallel ; the Jdwness of those that are saved by both. For, though many are sprinkled with the elemental water of baptism, yet few, so as to attain by it the ansiver of a good conscience towards God, and to live by participation of the resurrection and life of Christ." If these Remarks should answer no other end than to bring the reader acquainted v.'itli the vrorks of Leighton, I shall not think that I have written in vain. No. XXI. Bishop Reynolds died A. D. 1676. Bishop Reynolds is to be added next to the authorities already quoted. " I shall propose three cases to be resolved: 1st, Whe- ther sin may reign in a regenerate man so as that this power and kingdom of sin shall consist with the righteous- ness of Christ ? 2dly, How wicked men may be convinced that sin reigns in them, and what difference there is be- tween the power of sin in them and in the kegexerate ? 3dly, Why every sin doth not reign in every unregene- EATE man ^ P. 110, edit. 1679. " All Christ's subjects are withal his children. They are horn unto him. Christianity is a birth. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. »- - - There are subordinate instruments the Holy Apostles, Evangelists, doctors, and pastors, who therefore are sometimes called fathers, begetting us in Christ Jesus, * I have begotten you through the Gospel ;' and some- times mothers bearing; and brinmng forth ; ' of whom I * travail in birth again, until Christ be foi*raed in you.' N 4 184 There is a holy seed out of which those children of Christ are formed; namely, the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For, the heart of a man new born unto Christ comcth from the word, as a paper J}'om the p7-ess, or as a garment from the perfume, transformed into that quality of spiritualness and holiness zchich is in the WORD." P. 353. No. xxir. Bishop Pearson died A. D. 16S(). The admirable work of Bishop Pearson, on the Creed, is most deservedly held in high estimation by the members of our Church ; and I have understood that it is one of those books which are pretty generally recommended by our Bishops to the candidates for ordination. From this Work I shall make a few extracts. " The second part of the office of the Holy Ghost, in the sanctification of man, is the regeneration and renova- tion of him"" (the former being the illumination of his mind). " For our natural corruption consisting in an aversation of our wills, and a depravation of our affections, an inclination of them to the will of God is wrought within us by the Spirit of God. For, according to his mercy he saveth us, by the "washing of regeneration, and rcnexi}ing of the Holy Ghost. So that except a man he horn again, of •water and the Holy Ghosty he cannot enter the kingdom of God. We are all at first defiled by the corruption of our nature and the pollution of our sins ; hut we are washed, but we are sanciificd, hut we are justijied, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. The second part then is the renewing of man in aU the parts and faculties of his soul.'"' Art. VIIL I believe in, tfie Holy Ghost. 185 Again : in writing on the IXth Article, The Holy CaikoUc Church, after having described several kinds of holiness belonging to the Church, he adds, " Where, first, we must observe that the Church, at it embraceth all the professors of the true faith of Christ, containeth in it, not only such as do truly believe and are obedient to the word, but those also which are hypocrites and profane. Many profess the faith, which have no true belief: many have some kind of faith, which live with no correspondence to the Gospel preached. Within, tliere- fore, the notion of the Church are comprehended good and bad, being both externally called, and both pro- fessing the same faith. For, the hingdom of heaven is like unto a Jield, in which wheat and tares grow toge^ thcr unto the harvest; like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind ; like tinto a jloor, in which are laid up wheat and chaff; like unto a marriage Jeast, in which some have on the xcedding garment, and some not. This is that ark of Noah, in which Avere presei-ved beasts clean and unclean. This is that great Iwusc, in which there are not only vessels of gold and silver, hut also of zcood and of earth, and tome to honour, and some to dishonour. There are many called, of all which the Church consisteth, but there sccejexo chosen of those which are caEed, and there- by withm the Church. I conclude therefore, as tlie an- cient Catholics did against the Donatists, that within the Church, in the public profession and external communion thereof, are contained persons truly good and sanctified, and hereafter saved ; and, together with them, other persons void of all saving grace, and hereafter to be damned. " Of these promiscuously contained in the Church, such as are void of all saving grace while they live, and I8f) communicate witli the rest of the Church, and, when tfiey pass out of this life, die in their sins ; as they were not i\i their persons holy while they lived, so are they no way of the Church after their death, neither as members of it, nor contained in it. Through their own demerit, they fall short of the glory to which they were called, and be- ing by death separated from the external communion of tlie Church, and having no true internal communion with the members and tlie Head thereof, ai'e totally and finally cut off from tlie Church of Christ." In writing on the Comvntnlon ofSainis,the Bishop says, " The true notion of saints is expressed by Moses, both as to the subject, and the affection or qualification of it ; for they are called by him men of holiness: such are the persons understood in this article, Avhlch is the communion of men of holiness. Now holiness, in the first acceptation of it, signineth separation, and that with the relation of a double term, of one from which the separation is made, of the other to which that which is sepai-ated is applied. Those things which were counted holy under the law were separated from common use, and applied to the service of God, and their sanctity was nodilng else but that separation from and to those terms, from an use and exercise profane and common, to an use and exercise peculiar and divine. Thus, all such persons as are called from the vulvar and common condition of tlie world unto any peculiar senice or relation unto God, are thereby denominated holy, and in some sense receive the name of saints. The penmen of the Old Testament do often speak of the people of Israel as of an holy nation, and God doth speak to tliem as to a people holy unto himself; because he had chosen them out of all the nations of the world, and appropriated them to himself. Although, therefore, most of that nation were rebellious to Him which 187 tailed them, and void of all true inlierent and actual; sanctity ; yet, because they were all in that manner sepa- rated, they were al], as to that separation, called holv. In the like manner, those of the New Testament, writing to such as were called, and had received, and were bap- tised in the faith, give unto tliem all the name of samts, as being in some manner such, by being called and bap* tised. For, being baptism is a washing away of sin, and the purification from sin is a proper sanctification ; being every one who is so called and baptised is thereby sepa- rated Jroin the rest of the zaorld, which are not so, and all such separation is some Jclnd of sanctification ; being, though the work of grace be not perfectly wrought, yet when the means are used, without something appearing to the contrary, we ought to presume of the good effect, therefore aU such as have been received into the Church, may in some sense be called holy. " Bat because there is more than an outward vocation and a charitable presumption, necessary to make a man holy; therefore we must find some other qualification which must make him really and truly such, not only by an extrinsecal denomination, but by a real and internal affection. What this sanctity is, and who are capable of this title properly, we must leam out of the Gospel of Christ, by which alone, ever since the Church of Christ was founded, any man can become a saint. Now, by the tenour of the Gospel, we shall find that those are truly and properly saints, which are sayictified in Christ Jesus; first, in respect of their holy faith, by which THEY ARE REGENERATED ; Jor xchosoever helieveth that Jesus is the Christ is horn of God ; by which they ai'e purged, God himself purifying their hearts by faith ; whereby they are washed^ sanctified, and Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, in whom also, after that they I8S believe, tJicy are sealed xvith the Holy Spirit ofpromisey her On these extracts from this excellent work, it will be obscrv'ed ; 1. That tlie learned Bishop mak^s regeneration to consist in an inclination given to the Avill of man, natu- rally depraved and averse from God, to his holy will ; or, in a renewal of man in all the parts and faculties of his soul. 2. That the necessary effect of baptism is no more than an outward separation from a profane to an holy pur- pose, and is to be distinguished from inward sanctification, the latter being conferred on some only among those who are baptised. 3. That regeneration is inseparably connected with faith in Jesus as the Christ, so that no believer in him is unregenerate, and no unbeliever is regenerate. 4. That the seal of the Holy Spirit of promise, vouch- safed to the regenerate in baptism (and effectual, whether regeneration follow or precede it) follows that faith whereby men are regenerated, or, to speak more con-ectly, which is the fruit of regeneration. Other like inferences might be drawn from the Bishop's words, but I leave the reader to make them himself. No. XXIII. Dr. Isaac Barroio died A. D. 16T7. The learned Dr. Isaac Barrow has these words: " Faith is the root of our spiritual life, for he that cometh unto God must believe ; and, ' Add to your faith virtue,' saith St. Peter, supposing faith to precede other virtues. It is the principal conduit of divine g-race ;for by it tee a/re r^bgenerated, and become the sons of God ; Ye all 189 (saitli St. Paul) are the sons of God by faitli in Christ Jesus." Vol. II. Fol. 4th edition, p. 13. " We may add, as an observable point, the analogy or opposite resemblance thereof, between the conception of our Saviour for us and liis formation in us ; his natural generation, and the spiritual kegenekation of chris- TiAKs ; his becoming our brother in the flesh, and our being made his brethren in the Spirit; both being effected by the same agent. As Christ was made true man and partaker of our nature, so we become true Christians and consorts of the divine nature by the operation of the same divine Spirit. As he by the dispensation of God ; so we by his grace arc horn not of blood, nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but of God Hence doth accrue a new relation, and we become his brethren, not only as he was made hke to us, but also as we become like to him, and are begotten of God by the same heavenly virtue, the same incorruptible seed. It may, indeed, be an admonition to us to labour after this spiritual concep- tion, which will render us conformable to our Lord, and far more truly allied to him than ever his partaking our nature hath done; and, indeed, without that spiritttal one, this carnal alliance will not signify any thing of be- nefit to us ; it will httle profit us that he was born in the flesh, if we are not horn of the Spirit, witJiout xchich generation we cannot enter into the Tcingdom of God."" P. 263. " God, in mercy, doth grant to us the virtue of his Holy Spirit ; who first opening our hearts so as to let in and apprehend tlie light of truth, &c. Then by con- tinual impressions he bendeth our inclinations Both these operations together (enlightening our minds, sanctifying our will and affections) do constitute and ac- compUsh that work which is styled the regeneration. 190 renovation, vivificatlon, new creation, resuiTection of a man ; the faculties of our souls being so improved, that we become, as it were, ether men thereby. Sic.'" * P. 370. No. XXIV. Bisliop Hopkins died A.D. 1690. See page 68 of this work. No. XXV. Archbishop Tillotson died A. D. 1694. The language of Archbishop Tillotson, in his sermons on the Nature of Regeneration, vol. vi. 8vo. 1742, is most decidedly opposed to Dr. Mant's main position, ** The prevalency and dominion of sin makes an UN- BEGENERATE State, as the prevalency of grace puts a man into a regenerate state. An unregenerate man is not ne- cessarily as bad as is possible, no more than it is necessary to a regenerate state that a man be perfectly good."" P. 1758. " The Scripture ascribes our conversion and repentance, * It is proper to mention, that Dr. Barrow, in many parts of his works, expresses himself in language which fovours Dr. Mant's hypothesis ; in his doctrine of the sacraments particularly. The above extracts are given in order to show that Dr. Barrow did not intend his language, when formally treating on the sacrament of baptism, to be strained to the extent of Dr. Mant's position. That he exhorts baptised persons to labour after regeneration, and considers faith to be the instrument of regeneration, can- not be doubted after the passages above quoted ; and this is all my argument requires. A similar remark may be applicable to some other of my authorities, to Bishop Andrews for instance, and Archbishop Tillotson, « 191 our REGENERATION and sanctificatlon, to several causes : To the Holy Spirit of God, as the principal author and efficient ; hence we ai'e said to be horoi of the Spirit. To the woKD OF GOD, as the subordinate means and instru- ment of our conversion ; hence we are said to he begotten by the "woed of teijth.*'' P. 17G5. " Regeneration is evidently by degrees in experience of the ordinaiy method of God's grace, both in those who are regenerated bi/ a pious and religious education, &c.'" P. 1779. " Regeneration ts the change of a mane's state, from a state of sin to a state of holiness ; v/hich, because it is an entrance upon a new kind of hfe, it is fitly resembled to begeneration or a new birth ; to a new creation, the man being, as it were, quite char.ged or made over again, so as not to be, as to the main purpose and design of his life, the same man he was before." P. 1784, 8vo. edition, 1742. No. XXVI. Bishop Beveridge died A. D. 1707. See page 94 of this work. No. XXVII. Bishop Bull died A. D. 1709. Bishop Bull, in his Ajjologiapro Harmonia, ejusque AutJiore, after describing the sponsion, or stipulation^ anciently as well as now, made in baptism, and which he states to be the a-vm^-na-iu^- ayaSvji- E7rscwT»)jU«, mentioned by St. Peter, 1 Ep. iii. 21, as that in baptism which saves, goes on to say : " Hanc sponsionem salutis vocat Tertullianus de baptismo. Idem de resur. earn, dixit : Anima eniiri 4 192 non lavatione sed responsione sancitur. Cyprianus In- ierrogationem bapfismi vocat, Epist. 80 & 76. Jam huic bonce conscienticB stipulationi diserte a Petro tribuitur salus, quae baptismate confertur,nempe remissio peccatorum et jus ad vitam eternam. Quippe sine Uc stipulatione (quae sane nihil aliud est quain universi Christianismi, sive legis evangelicae, etiam qua parte crucem tolli jubet, susceptio) nemo quaviscunque fide praeditus, remissionem peccato- rum et jus ad \itara eternam obtinere potest ; sed isti BAPTISMI EFFECTUS XEQUAQUAM ABSOLUTE SUSPEXDUNTUR AB EXTERIORI SACRAMEKTI CEREMOXIA, Utpote qua, ali- qua rerum humanarum -Tn^irao-u^ proliiberi possit is, qui sincerum intra animum Christianismum conceperit."" I have produced this passage for the purpose of show- ing that, in the opinion of Bishop Bull, the effects of bap- tism are suspended on the sincerity of the sponsion en- tered into by the baptised person, that is, of his repent- tance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The sponsion of a good conscience must be the effect, and not the cause, of regeneration ; and without this, accord- ing to Bishop Bull's doctrine, no one, although baptised, can obtain remission of sins, and a right to eternal hfe. No. XXVIII. Bishop Bu7-?iet died A. D. 1715. See page 67 of this work. No. XXIX. Dr. South died IllQ. Dr. South also takes a ground most opposed to Dr. Mant. He says ; " Habitual preparation for the Lord's supper consists in a standing permanent habit or principle 193 of holiness, wrought chiefly by God's Spirit, aild insiTW mentally hy Ms word, in tlie heai't or soul of man ; such a principle as is called, both by our Saviour and his Apostles, the NEW BIRTH, the new man, the immortal seed, and the like, and by which a man is so universally changed and transformed in the whole frame and temper of liis soul, as to have a new judgment and sense of things, new desireS) new appetites and inclinations." Vol. ii. p. 288, 5th edition^ 1722. " The truth is^ for any one who is not passed from death unto life, and has not in him that new living priri' ciple vf\\ic\\ we have hitherto been speaking of, to come to this spiritual repast, is, upon the matter, as absurd and preposterous, as if he wh.o makes a feast should send to the graves and the churchyards for guests, or entertain and treat a corpse at a banquet.*" Idem, p. 290. " There is a constant and habitual love of sin in the irtiBEGENERACY and corrupt estate of the soul A man may as well go abroad and leave his body and flesh behind him, as an uxregexerate man go any whither not attended by his sin Sin ; it is the primum vivens and the ultimum moriens ; like the heart itself Avhich har- bours it ; in every finally impenitent sinner so exceedingly beloved, that many uxregexerate men vouchsafe even to live and die with their sins ; which is the highest pitch of love imaginable." Vol. ix. p. 285 — 287. No. XXX. Dr. Wall Dr. Wall, in his History of Infant Baptism, has pro- duced, for the most part, those passages from the cathelic Fathers, in which the figure metonymy is) according to the 194 opinion of C'ranmer andJewcl before quoted, so freely used* But it will appear, even from the Doctor's own statement, that what he calls regeneration is not any internal change, but merely a relative or ecclesiastical translation, not ne- cessarily connected with a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness. If this be all that is attributed to baptism, I see no objection to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration ; but this certainly is not what is meant in Scripture by being horn of God., nor what the various terms used by Dr. Mant, as synonymous with regene- ration, necessarily imply *. Quoting St. Augustine, Dr. Wall says : "As, in Abra- ham, the righteousness of faith went before, and circum- cision, the seal of the righteousness of faith, came after ; $o in Cornelius, the spiritual sanctification by the gift of the Holy Spirit went before, and the sacrament of regene-^ ration by the laver of baptism came after : and as in Isaac, who was circumcised the eighth day, the seal of the righ- teousness of faith went before, and (as he was a follower of his father''s faith) the righteousness itself, the seal whereof had gone before in his infancy, came after : so in infanta baptised, the sacrament of regeneration goes before, and (if they put in practice the christian religion) conversion of the heart, the mystery whereof went before hi their body -f-, comes after. « By all which, it appears that tlie so* crament of baptism is one thing, and conversion of tlie heart another ; but that the salvation of a person is com- pleted by botli of them. And if one of these he icanting^ we arc not to think that the other is wanting, since one may be zvithout the other in an infant, and the other was xcithoitt that in tlie thief: God Almighty making up, both • See above, pages 139 and 140. f Conversion of heart is, therefore, the thing signified ia bap- tism. 19S In one and the other case, that which was not wilfully wanting. *' Whereas, some people have expressed a wonder at St- Austin, that he should hold that all that are baptised, are also regenerate ; no man hving can read him without per-* ceiving that he uses the word (regenerate) as another word for (baptised), and that this with him would have been an identical proposition ; as if one should say now-a-days, * All that are baptised are christened.'' If some of late days have put a new sense on the word (regenerate) *, how can St. Austin help that ? And the Church of Eng- land uses the word in the old sense. " If the objection be, that it is not easy to conceive how an mfant can be Jorn, or regenerate, of the Spirit (which is mentioned in the text, John, iii. 5, as well as with water), since he is not capable of any operations of the Spirit on his will, &c. ; it is not only owned by all other Christians, that the Holy Spirit, besides his office of con- verting- the heart, does seal and apply pardon of sin, and. other promises of the covenant that infants are ca- pable of salvation by Christ's purchase, and the applica- tion of Christ's blood and spirit to them the grace of Christ electing them, putting them into Christ, uniting them to him by his Spirit."" I see no difference between the doctrine here main- tained by Dr. Wall, and that maintained by Bishops Brad- ford and Hopkins ; but that what the former caUs con- version, is called by the latter spiritual internal regenera* tion, or the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Dr. Wall's conversion is, however, according to his own statement, the thing signified in baptism, or that which is mystically therein represented. * The inward spiritual grace of baptism, is a death unto iin, and a uewMrth unto righteousness. o ^ 196 No. xxxi. Dr. WMthy died A. D. 1726. Dr. Whitby thus expresses his view of the distinction between baptismal and spiritual regeneration, in liis Para- phrase on John, iii. 3 — 6. Ver. 3, " Jesus said to him - - Except a man be born again ; that is, renewed in his mind, will, and affections, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and so become a new creature, S Cor. v. 17 ; he cannot see the kingdom of God. Ver. 4. " Nicodemus, being a Pharisee, exact in the observance of their traditions and ritual observances, but having no knowledge of this spiritUxVL eegeneration, saith to him, * How can a man be born when he is old,' &c. Ver. 5. " Jesus answered - - Verily, verily, I say to thee, except a Inan be born (again) of water, and so become one of my disciples by that baptismal regexeea- ti05;r, by which your proselytes are said to become as in- fants new born ; and of the spirit purifying his heart from all worldly and carnal lusts, and enabling him to live a spiritual life according to my doctrine, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Ver. 6. " And the reason and necessity of this rege- neration BY the spirit is evident - - - for that which is bom of the flesh is flesh, still mindeth chiefly carnal things, and hves after the motions of the flesh ; and he (but) that which is bom of the Spirit is spirit ; that is, is acted Inj and lives after the motions and directions of the Holy Spirit. Ver. 8. " The wind bloweth, &c. So it is with every one that is born of the Spirit ; the effects produced in him by the Holy Spirit plainly show a great change in him, 4 197 and he himself perceives it ; but the operations of the Spirit, producing this change^ are not perceptible to others, nor is the renewed person always able to perceive and to distinguish them from the inward worldngs of his own mind." In his notes on the same verses, the Doctor observes, " That Christ seems to speak this (' see the kingdom of ' God') of that spiritual kingdom which was to be created by the Messiah, and into Avhich men entered by baptism ; whence it must follow, that no man is indeed a member of Christ's kingdom who is not truly regene- rate. ' If you continue in my word,"* saith Christ, * then are ye my disciples indeed," John, viii. 31 ; and, * if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of < his,' Rom. viii. 9.'' Ver. 5. " ' If a man be not born of wqiter.' That our Lord here speaks of baptismal begexeration, the whole Christian church from the beginning hath always taught, and that mth very good reason; for, though water is sometimes put to signify or represent the piu-ifying opera- tions of the Holy Spirit, yet, to be horn of water, is a phrase never used in Scripture for heing horn of the Spirit ; but is very properly used of that baptism which is the laver of regeneration. Tit. iii. 5, and was by all the ancients styled ■mxXi.'yina-lot, or regeneration." On 1 Cor. vii. 14, the Doctor thus writes : ^' The argvnnent for infant baptism runs thus : If the holy seed among the Jews was, therefore, to be circumcised and be m.a.Ae federally holy by receiving the sign of the covenant, and being admitted into tlie number of God's holy people, because they were born in sanctity or were seminally holy; for, the root being holy, so are the branches also : then, by like reason, the holy seed of Christiana, ought to be admitted to baptism, and receive the sign of authenticate writings of importance, both in pubhc and private transactions. In allusion to this practice, whatever may seem to justify a claim to any particular privilege, commission, or authority, or to affoi-d a con- Jirmation of a promise that is hereafter to tahe effect, is by an easy figure called a seal By the same figure he (the Apostle Paul) calls cu'cumcision the seal of Abra- ham's righteousness of faith. It was the appointed mark and standing memorial of the promises which were made \o Abraham, in consideration of that righteousness of faith 202 which Abraham had exercised (Q. received) before those promises were given, or this rite was ajjpointed. It Avas an evidence of the acceptance of this righteousness in the person of Abraliam, - - &c. By the same figure the Apostle, in the text, calls the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost the seal of the Christian's hopes : ' Grieve * not the Holy Spirit of God, by whom ye are sealed to the * day of redemption.*" The same image occurs frequently in his writings. Thus, in the first chapter of this same Epistle, he says, '^ In whom,' i. e. in Christ, * having ' beUeved, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of * promise.' And in the second to the Corinthians, * It is * God who hath sealed us, and given the earnest of his * Spirit in our hearts.' (P. 302—5, 306, 307.) John the Baptist, when he declared himself to be the promised forenmner of the Messiah, and announced his speedy advent, places the great superiority of his character and office in this circumstance, that he should fulfil these ancient predictions by baptising his disciples with the fire of the Holy Ghost: alluding, as I conceive, in that ex- pression, both to the active nature of that holy principle, which the Christian baptism conveys into the converted heart*, and to the form in which the Almighty Spirit made his visible descent upon the first Christians. ** The proposition which we apprehend to be implied in the text, and which is inculcated in innumerable pas- Sages of Holy Writ, is this, that the ordinary influences of * It is presumed that sufficient proof has been given, in the preceding pages, that conversion, which the Bishop makes a pre- liminary to baptism, in order that baptism may answer its true end as a seal of spiritual grace, is, when it is used to describe the commencement of the Spirit's operations on the fallen soul, to be identified with regeneration, and that it is so identified by the Scriptures, by our Church, and by her most accredited writers. 203 the Holy Spirit"" (as distinguislied from his miraculoux operations) " on the heart of every true believer, are, to every such person, an earnest of his final salvation. These influenees are an immediate action of the Holy Spirit on the mind of man, hy ichich he is brought to •will, and enabled to do, according to GocTs pleasure, &c. And the text, assuming this doctrine, as a confessed and certain truth, teaches him to conclude, that God's en- abling him to do what without God's assistance could not be done, is a certain argument of God's merciful design to promote him to that happiness hereafter, for which the habits of a religious temper here are the natural pre- parative. And, admitting the premises, the conclusion seems obvious and inevitable. " It may be said of the Holy Spirit what Christ has said of other spirits, * By his fruits ye shall know him.* The fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. These are tlie fruits by which the Spirit of God is known. " But is this all ? Is this the believer's assurance of his sancti/ication nothing more at last than an inference of his own mind from the fuevourable testimony of his con- science ? This is ijideed the case. Yet this assurance is no inconsiderable thing ; for the inference is certain and infallible. ' Beloved,' says St. John, ' if our hearts con- * demn us not, then have we confidence towards God.* And the rule by which the heart must judge is this : * He ' that practiseth righteousness, is righteous in like manner * as he, that is, as Christ is righteous.' And ' Every * one that practiseth righteousness is born of him.' And to the same purpose our Lord himself; ' If any man love * me, he will keep my word, and the Father will love * him ; and we will come unto hiin and make our abode 204 * with him.' Thus you see, he that keeps Christ's com- mandments is in the love of Christ and of the Father : he that doeth righteousness is born of God : he that is ab- solved by his conscience *, may be confident God absolves him. And yet St. Paul assures us that he ' who has not * the Spirit of Christ is none of his.' And St. John, that the evidence that we are in his love, and under the pro- tection of his providence, is, that * he has given us of his * own Spirit.' In therie texts, the very same things ai"e denied of him who shall be without the Spirit, which, in those before alleged, are affirmed of him whose conscience shall be pure. Evidextly, thekefoke, the connexion IS NECESSARY AND CONSTANT BETWEEN A GOOD LIFE AND A REGENERATE MIND; and where there is a con- science void of offence, there is the sanctifying Spirit of the Lord." P. 339, 340.— Again, p. 344 : " Thus in the sensible effect of a reformed life and regenerate mind, it (conscience) deserves a token of God's special favour -j-," * That is, if the conscience be enlightened and quickened by the Spirit of God : without this limitation, the case of Paul, while a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious, is directly against the Bishop's assertion. f The reader will not fail to observe, that, in all that has been quoted above, though the regenerating work of the Spirit is more than once expressly mentioned, baptism is referred to but once, and then not as inseparably connected, nor indeed as connected at all, with that grace. Indeed, in the two sermons, though the subject is the sealing of the Spirit, and though the evidence of a state of grace is, of course, the main point which the preacher discusses, he never once tells us that baptism introduces the reci- pients of it into that state. On the contrary, he asserts that circum- cision, which was the corresponding ordinance under the former dispensation, was subsequent to a state of grace, in the instance of Abraham, and antecedent to it in the case of his infant seed. He makes a clear distinction between the tru0 Christian and 205 There is one other passage, which I recollect (vol. i. p. 190, Posthumous Sermons), in a sermon on 1 John, V. 6, where the subject of baptism is referred to. " All the cleansings and expiations of the law, by water and animal blood, were typical of the real cleansing of the conscience by the water of baptism, and of the expiation of real guilt by the blood of Christ, shed upon the dross, and \drtually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's supper." Here the efficacy of the two sacraments is represented in similar terms : and we know that the efficacy of the Lord's supper depends on the internal acts of the recipient. THIRD CLASS, Cotitainbig Extracts from Books and Tracts on the List of the Society for Promoting Chris- tian Knowledge, 't>' Dr. Mant's tract on regeneration having been includ- ed in the last annual packet of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, it becomes a matter of high im- portance to examine how far the previous doctrine of the Society's numerous pubhcations coincides with the posi- tions of Dr. Mant. The extracts which follow, are made after a cursory review only of the forty-nine volumes on the Society's list. A more minute investigation would probably have greatly increased the number and weight others ; a distinction not founded on the destitution or recipiency of baptism, but on the state of the heart towards God, and of that/«;Vi6 w/jic^ worketh by love. 20() of the quotations. Sucli as tlicy are, however, they ap- pear to mc to prove most triumphantly that Dr. Mant's doctrine is not only new to the gieatest divines of our Church, from the period of the Reformation, but new to the venerable Society, which has just been induced to adopt and circulate his statements. The spiritual grace of baptism — a death unto sin and a new birth unto righ- teousness, the regeneration of the soul, a new creation in Christ Jesus, a resurrection from the death of sin, the renovation of man*'s fallen nature after the image of God —all this does not, in the judgment of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, invariably accompany llie rio-lit administration of the external sacrament. My extracts arc taken from the volumes and tracts issued by the Society's order in 1812. I mention this be- cause two considerable circumstances render it necessary. In the Report for 1813, the tract of Bishop Bradford, on baptismal and spiritual regeneration, no longer appears on the Society's li^t. An alteration has likewise been made, since this set of books and tracts was issued, in the " Directions for a devout Behaviour in public Worship."" The passage which stands with me, " Regeneration, a Prayer for it. Collect for Christmas Day,'' has been alter- ed thus, " Renovation, a Prayer for it. Collect for Christmas Day." I mention these two circumstances to pre- vent any surprise being expressed at the citations of tliose tracts being made, as I find them in my own set. Whe- ther any other omission of books from the list, or altera- tion of those which continue there, has taken place during the last two or three years, I am utterly unable to say. Indeed, I should not have alluded for a moment to sucli a suspicion, if the two circumstances above stated had not justly excited the apprehensions of the members of the Society, who reside at a distance i'rom the metropolis, and \ S07 are therefore but seldom able to attend llie board In person. The extracts are given in the order, or nearly so, in which the book and tracts, from which they are taken^ stand in the Society's list for 1812. No. XXXV. In Ostervald's Remarks on John, iii. we find the fol» lowing expressions. *' In this chapter St. John relates, 1. The discourse! between Jesus Christ and Nicodemus; in which, under the figure of a second birth and of water, he shows, that men must be wholly renewed, and inwardly sanctified by the Holy Ghost, if they would become his disciples and enter into the kingdom of heaven - - - Let us learn fronv the discourse that Christ had with Nicodemus, 1. That carnal men cannot enter into the kingdom of God ; and that, in order to be admitted there, we must become new creatures, and entertain thoughts and inchnations that will lead us to the knowledge of the truth, and to inquire after spiritual things. 2. This may Ukewise teach us,, that since it is by the Spirit of God alone that we can be THUS REGENERATED, we ought to implove fcrvetitly and continually the grace of that Holy Spirit, and to make a right use of it, when God shall grant it to us.'* In his remarks on 2 Cor. v. he obser\ es, ** Since the design of the ministry of the Gospel is, as St. Paul teaches, to make men become new creatures^ and to re- concile them to God by Jesus Christ, all those who pre- tend to call themselves Christians ought to endeavour to wean themselves from the things of tlus world, to be» 208 come fiew creatures by eegeneration and a comtaitt ap-t plication to holiness."" On Titus, iii. he thus unites : " 1. St. Paul directs Christians to remember, that God in his great mercy had saved tliem, when they hkewise lived in the greatest iiregularities St. Paul teaches us here that God has saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done^ but according to his mercy — through Jesus Christ our Saviour : that, being justified by his grace, we may be made heirs according to the hope of e\ erlasting life. A most important doctrine, which ought to produce in us sentiments of humility and unfeigned thanks to God."" The silence of Ostervald on this celebrated text, con- nected with the other extracts from him, sufficiently evinces the completely opposite views which he entertained to those of Dr. ]\Iant. On James, i. he says, " The fourth instruction, well worth our observation, is, that God is so far from being the cause of sin, that he is the Author of all good, since he has regenerated us hy Ids word, that we may become new creatures^ On 1 Peter, i. he remarks, *' We have been redeemed and consecrated to God by the precious blood of Christ ; and, lastly, we have received a new birth hy the preaching of the GospeV On 1 John, iii. he says, " The Apostle teaches us that he that is a child of God does not sin, that is, 4oes not live in a habit of sin, nor give himself up to sin; but that he who sins is a child of the devil ; and that this is a sure viarTc to distinguish the children of God Jrom the children oftM devil C 209 No. XXXVI. Duke's Lectures on the Christian Covenant. ** It is the property of water to wash and cleanse the body ; and it is for this reason made use of to shoxv the inward washing or cleansmg of the soul The inward and spiritual grace in baptism is a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness. We were bom in sin; and, therefore, when we are baptised we are said to have a new birth ; we bury, as it were, our first corruptions, those evil inclinations which we brought into the world vnth us ; and we rise to a life of holiness. As a dead man hath ceased from the actions of this sinful life, so a bap- tised person is supposed to leave all the wickedness of this world, to live another sort of life, and enter into terms of agreement with God - - - On God's part, we are sure of his gracious proinises ; let man only perform his part of the agreement. Now, the privileges, thus conditionally secured to us in baptism, are reduced to these three ; by baptism we are made members of Christ, and children of -God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven." P. 1% and 73. No. XXXVII. Dr. Glasse, in his Six Lectures on the Catechism^ after stating the privileges of baptism, observes, " Let us never forfeit these gracious privileges by neglecting to fulfil the covenant into which we then. en«- tered ; lest our baptism, like the circumcision of a carnal Jew, become to us as no baptism, through the wicked- ness of our UNREGEXERATE hearts." P. 53. '210 No. XXXVIII. Archbishop Seeker on the Catechism. " Indeed, the mere outward act of being baptised is, St. Peter very truly expresses it, the mere putting away the filth of the flesh ; unless it be made effectual to save us, as he teaches, in the same place, it must, by the ansioer of a good conscience towards God (1 Pet. iii. 21), that is, by the sincere stipulation and engagement of re- pentance, wliereby we forsake sin ; and faith, whereby we believe the promises of God, made to us in that sacrament. For it is impossible he should forgive us our past sins, unless we are sorry for them ; and it is as impossible that we should quit them effectually, unless a firm persuasion of his helping and rewarding us excite and support our endeavours. These two things, therefore, we see our Catechism justly mention, as necessary, in answer to the question. What is required of persons to be baptised ?"" . P. 295 and 296. The solemn concluding words of the Archbishop, in. the Lecture on Baptism, are these : " But the wilful and the careless despisers of this ordinance, who, admitting it to be of God"'s appointment, neglect it notwithstanding ; these are not to be looked on as within his covenant. And such as, though they do observe it for fonn''s sake, treat it as an empty insignificant ceremony, are very unworthy of the benefits which it was intended to convey. And, bad as these things are, httlc better, if not worse, will be the case of those, who, acknowledging the solemn en- gagements into which they have entered by this sacrament, live without care to make them good. For, to the only valuable purpose, of God''s favour and eternal happiness, he is not a Christian, xohich is one outwardly ; neither is that baptism whicJi, i$ outward in ihcjlesh ; hut he is Sk 211 Christian, which is one inzoardly ; and baptism is that of the hea7-t, in the Spii'it and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, hut of God. Rom, ii. 28, 29." No. XXXIX. The Bishop of Chichester, Dr. John WilUams, in his Exposition of the Church Catechism, thus wiites : " Q. How are you made a child of grftce by baptism? " A. As I am thereby adopted to be the child of God, and taken into covenant with him, and have a title to the" grace and blessings of that covenant, which my baptism is the means and pledge of. " Q. Is baptism alone sufficient to salvation .'' " A. No : not alone, without the new iurth thereby signified, unless we are dead unto sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Rom. vi. 3, 4, 11." P. 70. No. XL. Mr. Burkitfs Help and Guide to Christian FamiUes contains the following remarks : " Q. Christ having done so much for your salvation, as you have now declared, surely there is nothing left for you to do .? " A. God forbid that I should think so ; for thq Scriptures tell me, I must be horn again, repent, and be converted, believe and obey the Gospel, or I shall never see the kingdom of God. John, iii. 3. " Q. When may you be said to be regenerated ? " A. When (together with a new name conferred upon me in baptism) there is a neic nature, by the sanc- tifying Spirit of God, wrought in me, enabling me to p2 212 bring forth the fruits of sobriety, rigliteousness, and god- liness, in my daily conversation. " Q. What occasion is there for such a renovatmg change to be Avrought in you ? '' A. Very much : namely, to restore my depraved nature to its primitive integrity. Accordingly I need the Spirit of God's assistance, in concurrence with my own endeavours, to enhghten my dark understanding, to con- quer the rebelhon of my will, to rectify the disorders of my affections, &c. " Q. Why is such a eegenerating change abso^ lutely necessary ? "A. In order to our being made partakers of the benefits of the covenant of grace, as also to qualify us for and entitle us to the kingdom of glory ; for, " Except a man be boen again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." P. 142 and 143. " Q. What is baptism ? " A. An holy institution of Christ for the benefit of believers and theu* seed, wherein by washing with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is sig- nified the inward purification of tlie soul by the blood and Spirit of Christ." P. 156. Stc No. XLI. *' The Pious Pai'ishioner" is thus instructed : " He (God) strictly commands parents - - - to quicken your apprelienaions of sin, and show the unawdkened soul the dreadful consequences of it."" Page v. " O eternal Spirit, be present with my spirit, that I may never quench the holy thoughts thou dost at any time kindle in my breast. Creata in me a clean heai-t ; Lord, wy to my sin-defiled soul, as thou didst to the leper, / 213 will, he thou clean. Happy is that breast which is ho- noured with so glorious, so divine a guest. O come, ihcm Purger of inward pollution, and burn up all the drops of my sinful affections, S:c." P. 36. " O blessed Redeemer, make me to rise from tlie death of sin unto the life of righteousness." P. 81. " Almighty Lord, who alone canst make a hard heart soft and relenting, and give sense even to such as a?-c past Reeling ; show the power of thy heavenly grace in WORKING upon my stupid and insensible heart !" P. 101. *' O holy and blessed Spirit be pleased to enter into my heart, and dwell there ; and consecrate my body into a temple for thyself. Thou ai*t a pure Spirit, and wilt not enter into a soul enslaved to sin ; kindle in my heart a love of purity, and burn up all my lusts." P. 112. " Earnestly pray that the Holy Ghost, the Purger of all inward corruption, the Healer of all spiritual dis- eases, would kindle such a flame of piety in your breast, as may bum up all your dross. O, it is a dehghtful employment to enter into our closets, and there pray to our heavenly Father, and read and meditate on his most holy word. Hereby a religious turn of mind will be hap- pily acquired, new thoughts, new words, new actions will be produced ; in slwrt, hereby you will become A NE'\y CREATURE in Chiist." P. 227. No. XLII. The following is the language of confession in the Whole Duty of Man, p. 368. *' O righteous Lord I have drunk iniquity hke water - - - - Mine heart, which should be an liabitation for thy Spirit, is become a cage of unclean birds, of foul and disordered affections - - - - O Lprd, I beseech thee, r3 214 by the power of thy grace, so to renew and purify my heart, that I may become a new creature. " O most holy Lord God how shall I, abominable ■wretch, dare to appear before thee, who am nothing but pollution? 1 am defiled in my very nature^ having a backwardness to all good, and a forwardness to all evil ; but I have defiled myself yet much worse by ray own actual sins and wicked customs But, O Thou who wiliest not the death of a sinner, have mercy upon me, ivorh in me a sincere contrition and a perfect hatred of my sins ; grant, O Lord, that fiom this instant / may give a bill of divorce to all my most beloved lusts, and then be thou pleased to marry mc to thyself in truth, in righteousness and holiness !" Is this the language of one who conceived the new creation, the spiritual union or marriage of the soul to God, to be mvariably connected with baptism ? Espe- cially, when in the early part of the same morning devo- tions, from which the first extract is made, p. 336, we are directed to say, " Thou hast by thy mercy caused me to be bora within thy peculiar fold, when I was early con- secrated to thee in baptism, and have been j!)artaker of all those spiritual heljjs which might aid me to perform that vow I there made to thee."" Again, in an earher part of the work, p, 54 — 60, the author say§, " Baptism enters us into covenant with God, makes us members of Christ, and so gives us right to all those precious benefits that flow from him, to wit, pardon of sins, sanctifying grace, and heaven itself, on condition we perform, our parts of the covenant God doth indeed promise those benefits before mentioned, and that is his part of the covenant. But ^len we also undertake to perform the several things contained in the vow of baptism, and that is Qur part of it ; and unless we do perform them, God is 215 -"riot tied to make good his, and so we forfeit all those precious benefits and advantages; we are left in that natural estate of ours, children qfztrathy enemies to God, and heirs (yf damnation.'" P. CO. No. XLIII. *' The great Importance of a religious Life." " In fact, nothing can give a man so exquisite a satis- faction as to reflect on the actions of a well-spent life ; to consider that he has made God his friend I say, for a man to consider tliese important truths ; to think that he is answering the end of his creation ; that he is doing the work for which he was sent into the world ; that he is become a member of Christ, a child of God, and an in- heritor qftJte kingdom of heaven^ &c. &c. P. 15 and 16. No. XLIV. Scougal's Life of God, ^vith a recommendatory pre- face by Bishop Burnet, aifords such language as the fol- lowing : " Wherein the divine Life doth consist. As the animal life consisteth in that narrow and confined love which is terminated on a man's self, and in his propension towards those things that are pleasing to . nature ; so the divine life stands in an universal and un- bounded affection The root of the divine life is faithr P. 14. " The Spirit works inwardly on all Christians. That there is a new birth and a di\'ine inward operation of the Spirit of God, which does constantly exert itself in the souls of the adopted sons of God, but chiefly in their regeneration, is a truth so sacred and p 4 215 certain, that none who have any acquaintance with the iwward ivaijs of God, can so miicli as question it. But the wild notions and worse practices of some high pretenders, have brought this divine truth into some disesteem and disrepute, with those u^ho know nothing' of it; yet such as feel the inward motions of it, and those gentle breath- ings of that good Spirit, are by them so much the more kindled to holy reverence and just zeal, for rescuing it from the neglect of some and the abuse of others." P. 96. " The Beginnings of Regeneeation. After tliis prefacing, I come to say something more practical of the beginnings and progi'ess of tliis happy change.^' P. 100. " Their first Awakenings. But when God hath a purpose of love towards any such, as are either lost in vice or ruined in an insensible neglect of God and divine things, he usually begins to deal with them upon great and sudden emergencies » And though I do not . deny but some ai-e insensibly and by degrees slowly wrought to a change of heart and life -. - - yet commonlij the change is notable in the jirst bcr ginningr P. 102. " Therefore, none are to measure their first kegene- EATioK, either by tlie vehemence or by the continuance of their sorrow, but by the effects it producetli; if it makes tliem hate sin ." P. 104. " For obstructing this (wearying), God does very often meet young converts with such sensible joy in hi? ways, as to overcome these ; and thus generally there is a sti'ung fervour aboi^t the begimiing of regeneration.'^ 217 No. XLV. In Rotherham's Essay on Faith we have a chapter on REGENERATION. P. 149 164. " If we call to mind the powerful effects of faith upon the soul we cannot be at a loss to comprehend those various expressions of the New Testament, which repre- sent the soul, when restored to that perfection to which it may be carried under the Christian dispensation, as the peculiar workmanship of God, as in a state of new birth, or of a new creation. " In the first place, let us endeavour to obtain a clear and distinct noticMi of Christian regeneration. , " Now, by this and other expressions in Scripture of equal force, it is evident that we must understand in general that change which is wrought in the mind by those powers which, in tlie Christian dispensation, are made to act upon it The tendency of faith to produce this change hath been fully considered. It follows clearly, that the great change we speak of is produced iji the mind hy the concurring operation erf faith and the Holy Spirit The first of these expressions, * faith working by * love,' denotes the efficient cause or operating power ; the second, ' a new creature,' the inward change in disposi- tion and principle v^^rought by that power; the third, * keeping the commandments of God,' the outward change of action and conduct, which is the result of that inward change of mind and principle, and the ultimate and final effect of faith. *^ How just is this language (' to be carnally minded ' is death ; but to be spiritually minded is hfe and peace'), and with what propriety- do they (the sacred writers) re- present the life formed on Christian principles as a new UfCj and the man who embraces those principles as horn fa 218 new life, and becoming a new creature! For, surely man, whose soul is illuminated with all the glorious light and strengthened with all the powers of Christianity ; man, whose actions are fonned on the sublimest principles, whom the purest virtue conducts to the most exalted hap- piness must be different from man sunk in ignorance and error, from man gi'ovelling on earth Such is a clear account of that regeneration or state of new life, of which the Gospel speaks. " To judge how far regeneration may be an instan- taneous act, we must call to mind that connexion which hath already been taken notice of between the influence of the Spirit and the influence of faith. The purifying and healing of the soul is the effect of their joint action. And since the progress of faith through the soul must be gra- dual, it seems to follow clearly, that tliis effiect of their joint action must be progressive likewise. " Upon the whole ; with regard to the Christian re- generation we may venture to conclude, that the change which the soul undergoes, is not a total and substantial change, is not the acquisition of a new soul, but a recovery and restoration of its whole frame and constitution from sickness and disorder to harmony and health ; that this change is produced hy the concurrent injluence of'Jaith and the Holy Spirit."" The chapter on Good Works begins thus : " Rege- neration being no other than the entii-e possession of the soul by the principles and powers of Christianity, whereby its evil dispositions are subdued, and is gradually wrought Into an holy and heavenly frame, we cannot but discern }iow naturally it must lead to the practice of good works.^ 219 No. XL VI. Wilson''s (Bishop of Sodor and Mann) Instruction for the Indians. " Ind. Wliat is meant by washing with water such as are baptised ? ** Miss.. It is an outward sign or token, signifying and assurinff us from Christ himself, that as our bodies are made clean by water, so surely the souls of all, who are true behevers and penitents, being thus dedicated to God, are cleansed from all past sins, and are put into the way of salvation by being admitted into the church of Christ and made members of his mystical body, which is the Tjlessed company of all faithful people. " Ind. Pray, Su', explain this a htde clearer and fuller to me. " Miss. You must know then, that the washing with "water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, conjirms and seals to the person thus washed, the covenant of repentance for the remission of sins, of which covenant Christ is the mediator ; for by Him only we have access to the Father. We are born in sin, and liable to the displeasure of our jNIaker ; but, by embracing and complying •with the terms of the Gospel^ We become children of God according to the New Cove- nant ; and by outward sensible signs or sacraments are confirmed in the hopes of eternal Ufe, the free gift of God, thi'ough Jesus Christ our Lord. But then, remember, if you do not endeavour to hve in obedience to the com- mand of your heavenly Father, it will be no profit to you at all to he called the child of God. Lastly, by baptism you are admitted into the hope of everlasting happiness, and to a title to the inheritance of the sauits, upon youf 220 lielieving, embracing, and obeying the gracious terms of the Gospel of the blessed Jesus. " Ind. What further use am I to make of this sa- crament ? " Miss. It ought always to bring to your remem- brance that you are a Christian ; that you have a new name and new power given you, on purpose that you may be- come a Tiew creature.'''' P. 9^! — 98. No. XL VII. Thirty-three Sermons, selected from the Works of the late Thomas Wilson, D. D. Lord Bishop of Sodor and Mann. " And that Christians may not be mistaken, and lay too much stress upon their being made in baptism chil- dren of God and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, with- out taking great care to live like children of so holy a Father, and like people who hope to go to heaven ; the sacred Scriptures, I say, have most particularly set down the marks and characters of such Christians as may hope for benefit by their Christian profession. * If any man * hath not the Spirit of Christ,' saith St. Paul, * he is none * of his.' ' If we live in the Spirit' (saith he in another ■place), ' let us also walli in the Spirit ;' that is, rfweprex tend to he horn affain, let us live like people tJiat are he' come new creatures. And in the Avords which I have chosen for a text, * As many as are led by the Spirit of * God, they [and tliey onlu'\ are the sons of God.' They only can call God, Father, so as to be heard by him, so as to have their prayers answered, so as to be rewjirded by him." P, 179, 180. 291 No. XLViri. Mr. Nelson, on the Festivals, may next be cited. " Q. What may we learn from the observation of this festival (the Circumcision) ? " A. The necessity of spiritual circumcision, or the change of the heart and life, which our Lord hath made the condition of salvation ; in order to which, the morti- fying our corrupt affections and sinful lusts is necessary."^ P. 95. " Blessed Jesus make me to rise from the death of sin to the life of righteousjicss ; that, as I am buried with thee by baptism, I may mortify all my corrupt lusts and affections and by being conformed to the likeness of thy resurrection, may put on \henew mauy which is CREATED in righteousness and true hoHness." P. 150. *'Q. What are the ordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost? ** A. All those helps and assistances which are neces- jsary for the performance of those conditions upon which our salvation depends so that the gift of God''s Spirit in this sense doth imply his continual residence in good men, his being a principle of spiritual life in tliem. " Q. What is the pecuhar office of the Holy Spirit .? " A. To sanctify and renew our corrupt natures - - - For since we are not able of ourselves to accomplish this mighty worh, God hath been graciously pleased to grant his Holy Spirit to be the author of all infernal hoU ness, and the principle of our spiritual life. " Q. When may the Holy Spirit be said to give clearness to our faith ? " A. Not only when he reveals to us the will of God, which he hath externally proposed in tlie Holy Scriptures ; but when he internally illuminates^ our minds, and In 222 dines them to the ohedienee qfJitWi, whereby vr& firmly assent to those truths which, unto a natural and carnal MAX, are foolishness." P. 214. No. XLIX. Dr. Stebbing's Sermon on the New Buth has the fol- ing passages : " This change from dai'kness to hght, from unclean- ness to hoHness, running through the whole moral man, and showing itself in every instance of behaviour, is, in Scripture, set forth in a variety of expicssions. Our Sa- viour calls it a new birtli ; St. Paul, a nexo spirit, a new man, or a neiv c?'eature. " How the state of a true believer came to be repre- sented to us in sudi figures as these, is not at all difficult to apprehend. For there is that difference between the temper and dispositions of a man addicted to his sensual lusts, and that of the same man when reformed by the in- fluence of the Gospel, as in a great measure will an- swer, in comparison, to the natural birth, or to a natural creaticm. A regenerate man hath a sense and appre- hension of spiritual things, which he had not in his un- REGENERATE statc ; j ust as a new-born infant has a sense and apprehension of natural things, which jt had not whilst it was imprisoned in the womb Furthermore, as we are born and created by the hand of God, so are we REGENERATED by the power of his Spirit, as our Sa^ viour intimates to us, John, iii. 5. Except a man be born of — the Spirit, he cannot enter into thelcingdom of God: which expression shows at once the necessity, both of the new birth, to qualify us for eternal happiness; and of the aid of God's grace, to work in us that change, which is signified by being born again — You see now, what it is 223 to be ho7^n again. And by what has been thus briefly said, every Christian may judge whether he is a new creature. Is his faith lively, working by love ? Doth he add to his faith vu'tue, &c.? To be horn again can imply no more than the doing of these things.'''' P. 120 — 122. No. L. Talbot's (Dr.) Christian Schoolmaster. " O most glorious God the Father, tlie Son, and the Holy Ghost, one God blessed for ever ; in all humility of soul and body, I cast myself down at thy footstool, be- seeching thee to accept my thanks for the great pri- vilege of beinfj born in a Christian church and of Chris- tian parents, and being by them dedicated to thy worship and service, according to our blessed Saviour''s institution in the holy sacrament of baptism, wherein that most gracious covenant, which thou hast wonderfully conde- scended to make with the sinful sons of men through Jesus Christ, was, in a most solemn manner, sealed unto me and ly w^." P. 168, 169. No, LI. Nelson's Practice of true Devotion, ** There are too many, God knows, in all communions, who place all their devotion in the means of religion : pro- vided they pray customarily, hear many sermons, and sometimes receive the holy communion, they conclude the man of God made perfect To pray frequently, to read and hear the holy word of God, to receive the blessed sacrament, to fast - - - are all holy and Cliristian actions, wliat God requires from us - • - But yet, if this were the £24 only fmth that leadetli to eternal life, there would not b* so few that find it. God expects that we should become KEw CREATURES ; that the prevailing temper and bent of our souls should be, to bring forth all the fruits of righ- teousness,'' &c. &c. P. 1 — 3. No. LII. " A new Manual of Devotions." " An alphabetical Table of the weekly Collects.'* PURITY. " A Prayer for Purity of Heart. Collect for Purification. REGENERATION. « A Prayer for it. Collect for Christmas Day." P. 146. *' And, xohen you have in some measure attmned to NEWNESS OF LIFE, vou must cudcavour to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesu& Christ." P. 155. GENERAL HEADS OF EXAMINATION. " O my soul, enter into the consideration of thine own state ; search thine heart \o the bottom ; ask thyself, what thou hast done, how thou hast carried thyself since the time thou wast by baptism first admitted into covenant •with Godr P. 161. RELATIVE DUTIES. A Parent. ** Have I earnestly and frequently prayed to Grod for the gifts and graces of his Holy Spirit, to renew a^id CHANGE and pur'ifij thcii' corrupt nature^ and for liis blessing and favour upon them .^" P. 173. 225 No. LlII. Wilson's (Bishop of Sodor and Mann) Maxims. " A REGENERATE PERSON CanUOt Sin *. That is, he has by faith and the grace of God, got such an habit of holiness, such an inclination to \'irtue, that he cannot, upon any temptation, knowingly consent to transgress the laws of God. Having overcome the •world, til at is, all those temptations by which men are led to commit sin, he is dead to sin ; that is, he can no more sin deliberately, than a dead man can breathe."" ** REGENERATION. The only certain proof of regeneration is vlctoiy. He that is horn of God ovcrcometh the zcorld-^. When we live by faith ; when faith has subdued the will, hath wrought repentance not to be repented of J, hath conquered our coiTuptions ; then to him that overcometh, \nW God ^ve to eat of the tree of hfe." Bishop Wilson's Maxims of Piety, from which the above extracts are made, consist of a variety of reflections under different heads: such as. Afflictions, Ambition, Appjtfel, Angels, Attributes of God, Sic. The above topics are given entire as they stand. No. LIV. Plain Directions for reading the Holy Scriptures. ** This faith in Christ is attended with many marvel- lous changes upon the mind. It is on man's side the first and original principle, from whence abundance of heavenly operations do proceed. It removeth the soid out of the aC" * 1 John, iii. 9. f j John, v. 4. J » Cor. vii. 10. 2£(> cursed stocJc of nature, and transplants her into Jesus Christ as a branch into the true Vine. By faith, a man is made a new creature ; and this enduing him with a will- ing, free, and filial spmt, his works are thereby rendered ac- ceptable to God, since they proceed no longer from nature, but from grace, the leading principle of a Christian's life and actions." P. 18. " Human reason, though never so much refined, and adorned with all the improvements art and study can give it, will yet fall short of a true insight into spiritual matters, whilst it remains void of the principle of grace. For an UNREGENERATE man, how ingenious, polite, and learned soever he be, will behold spiritual things through a painted or false glass, and hug his own fancies and images, instead of the divine truth of the Gospel. The reason is, that he is destitute of that capacity or fitness, which is ne- cessary for the know^lcdge of supernatural and spiritual objects." P. 23. *' A new li/ehemg thus gradually raised by the Word, there is no doubt but that it will influence all the actions of a man, and make them conformable to the divine will." P. 30. " Grant that I may effectually feel the power of thy Word, for a thorough and entire renewal of my soul. Let me be begotten again % the Gospel, as hy incorruptihle seed, and let the Ufe of grace be nourished up thereby as by sincere milk. Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may be- hold the mysteries of thy law, and may mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, for the good of my soul." P. 33. *' Did I ever, by viewing the natural creation, elevate my mind to that sjnrituul creation whereby a nerv heart is created, and a new spirit is put tvithin us f" P. 89. " Did I ever consider, that as by the word orGod the light was brought forth out of darkness i so in the neio 227 creation, a thorough sense of my own corruption and dark- ness must precede the state of divine illumination, &c.'* P. 39, 40. No. LV. Directions for a devout and decent Beha\aour in the public Worship of Grod. PROVIDENCE. " Prayers for Protection by God's Providence. Collects for the second, third, fourth, and twentieth Sundays after Trinity. PURITY. " A Prayer for Purity of Heart. Collect for the Pu- rification. REGENERATION. " A Prayer for it. Collect for Cluistmas-Day. RELIGION. ** A Prayer that we may be truly religious. Collect for the seventh Sunday after Trinity.'" P. 21. No. LVI. The necessary Duty of Family Prayer. •*^Be pleased to take away all impurity and hj^pocrisy, all insensibleness and perverseness from us, and make us thy willing and obedient servants for ever. We beUeve, that without holiness none can enter into thy kingdom : O Lord, make us holy through tJie effectual regenera- tion and sanctijication of thy Holy Spirit, that we may love thee with all our heart and soul, and serve thee with our might and strength, and may dehght to do thy will, and to deny ourselves for thy sake,'" P. 80, 21. ft2 5^28 No. LVJI. A familiar Exposition of the Cliurch Catechism. " Q. How are you called to a state of salvation .'* " A. By being received into the church of Christ, and enaJbled to work out my own salvation. " Q. How can you be sure of your salvation ? " A. If I sincerely endeavour to perform my part of tlie Clu-istian covenant, I may be sure of my salvation. For Chi'ist is the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." P. 7. " Q. ' What is the inward and spiritual grace,' signi- fied and represented by baptism ? " A. ' A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righ- teousness.'* *' Q. What is meant by a death unto sin ? " A. A ceasing from sin ; that we should no longer live the rest of our time to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. (1 Pet. iv. 2.) *' Q. What is the new birth unto righteousness ? " A. The meaning of this is, the leading of a new life in rightemisness and Iwliness all our days. We are buried with Christ by baptism unto death ; that, hke as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Rom. vi. 41.) *' Q. Is this new birth necessary ? " A. Yes : ' For being by nature born in sin, and the childi'en of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace.' " P. 54, 55. 229 No. LVIII. The Catechism briefly explained by short Notes, grounded upon Holy Scripture, commonly called the Oxford Catechism. *' Section VI. That he hath called me to this state of salvation, &c.] God's calling is either common (Matt, xxii. 14)^, or special and effectual. Common calling is that whereby a nation (Psal. clxvii. 19, 20), city, or family, are called to the knowledge of the means of salvation. Special, or effectual calling, is that xvherehy God callcth (Rom. viii. 30) his elect (1 Pet. ii. 9) out of their natural state of sin unto holiness (2 Thess. ii. 13, 14) and sal- vation, through Jesus Christ ; and tJiat, ordinarily/, hy means of the gospel preached." P. 21. " Section XLIII. By baptism, which (Col. ii. 11, 12) answereth to circumcision, we are (Acts, ii. 41) ad- mitted into the church of Christ : and by the Lord's Sup- per, which (1 Cor. v. 7, 8) answereth to the passover, we declare our continuance in the same, and claim the be- nefits of the Christian covenant (Acts, ii. 42). *' Baptism settetii forth nexv birth (John, iii. 5) : and, therefore, it is administered but once. The Lord's Supper SETTETH FORTH Spiritual food (John, V^. 55, 56): and, therefore, it is administered often (1 Cor. xi. 26).'* P. 43, 44. " Section XLIV. Water wherein the person is bap- tised, &c.] Baptism signifieth a washing (Acts, xxii. 16), or application of water, by dipping or sprinkling, in (Matt, xxviii. 19) the name of the blessed Trinity, and was Instituted by Christ to denote our being regenerate, and the necessity of our being cleansed from the pollution of sin (Titus, iii. 5, 6). " A death unto sin, Sec] By the baptism of water, q3 230 therefore, is signified and sealed the washing (Titus, iii. 6) of regeneration, and sanctiflcation of the Spirit; for the purging (Acts, xxii. 16) and mortification (Rom. \'i. 2, 3) of sin, and for the resurrection (ver. 4) to newness ofUfe." P. 44. No. LIX. Pastoral Advice to Young Persons, in order to their being confirmed by the Bishop. *' Not that human nature is altered in its essence, but in its qualities and endoAvments, as having lost that spiri- tual righteousness and holiness, wherein it first resembled God. Insomuch, that it is the great design and blessed work of the Gospel of our Lord, to restore and regene- KATE men to the spiritual purity and divine dignity "which they have lost, and to reimpress the image of God upon them hy spiritual regeneration, through his grace and mercy in our Lord Jesus Christ. So that our blessed Saviour comes as a second Adam, to redress the manifold evils that are brought upon us by the first ; that as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many might be made righteous, Rom. V. 19." P. 5. *^ And our blessed Saviour applied his saving reme- dies to the root of our distemper, v/hen he taught Nicode- liius that he must he born again of the Holy Ghost, as well as of water, or he could not enter the king- dom of God. (John, iii. 5.) And he demonstrates the necessity of this by a most irrefi-agable argvmient (ver. 6), to wit, because tliat which is born of the flesli is flesh. Carnal persons cannot act higher or better than their carnal principles lead them. And therefore they cannot, without sriRiTUAi, re?;eneration, come up to the divine . 231 principles, and rules, and life, and spirit of the Christian religion. The flesh will never consent to its own cruci- fixion, required Gal. v. 24. Nor will it assist in pulling out the right eye, or in cutting off the right hand. Matt. V. 29. Nor, in a word, ^\'ilI it rely on God for the accom- plishment of things, which, to a carnal view, seem im- possible ; which is the glory of a Christian's faith ; as in faithful Abraham, wlio, against hope, believed in hope. Rom. iv. 19. So that herein we see the Apostle's word made good, that * the carnal mind is enmity against God, * in that it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed * can be."* Rom. vii. 7. The divine pm-ity of the law of God is not only above its natural poAver, but opposite to its natural inchnations. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these two ai*e contrary the one to the other. Gal. v. 17." P. 6, 7. " And, in short, by your being baptised in the name of the Holy Trinity, you attained a new relation to your Creator as a gracious Father, to his eternal Son as your merciful Saviour, and to his Holy Spirit as your Sanctifier and Comforter, so long as you continue faWiful to tlwse covenant engagements ; which is therefore not improperly tenned a spiritual regeneration, that is^ in a baptismal and covenant sensed P. 16. " First, by virtue of this covenant and sacred alliance with God (by confirmation), you shall be OAvned, loved, and esteemed by him as a member of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ; and upon your spiritual incojporation into the visible Church of Christ by divixe regenera- tion, you shall have a continual communication of gi-ace," &c. &c. P. 34, 35. " Secondly, Ye will, by the grant of this covenant, become a child of God, which implies, " 1. That you will have the infinite honour of a Q 4 232 spiritval hlrthy and a divine extraction^ zchen you come to be born anezo by the Holy Spirit, through the incor^ ruptiUe seed of his holy word, which God here pro- mises to impart to you, by the due use of those means of his grace, which you here engage to apply yourself unto in faith and sincerity." P. 36. No. LX. Pastoral Advice to a young Person lately confirmed by the Bishop. *' Trusting in the aid and efficacy of his grace, as the only sufficient means of producing, preserving, and ad- vancing that Christian knowledge, holiness, and obedience in you, which the Gospel requires, as the necessary qua- lifications of a NEW CREATURE." P. 8. " Labour to give a demonstration of your spiritual BIRTH and growth, by your abounding in the fruits of the Spiiut ; such as a chief regard to heavenly things," P. 13. " The unspeakable happiness of such as persevere in the faithful discharge of their Christian vows. The hap- piness of such is indeed unspeakable, for they are in some measure restored to the primitive happy state of man, which was lost by sin. And now the wrath of God is tm-ned away by a gracious Redeemer, and the returning sinner is taken into his good Father's bosom ; xow the person that was ' alienated from the life of God,' by his corruption and rebellion, is made a partaker o/'tlie divine nature by spiritual regeneration, and is become * a * fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of « God ;' yea, God is now his adopted Father." P. 19. 233 No. LXT. ** Bradford (Bishop) on baptismal and spiritual Regeneration." See the extracts, pages 59 — 67 of the body of my work. The non-appearance of the Bishop'*s tract on the lists ©f the Society for 1813 and 1814, is the more remarkable from the two following circumstances : The tract was ori- ginally printed at the express request of the Society ; and, when pnnted, was strongly recommended to notice by a separate advertisement. These facts will appear from the Address to the Reader and the Advertisement, prefixed to the tract. " TO THE READER. *' This plain discourse was not intended for the press; but some worthy persons, engaged in the '^•haritable design of Promoting Christian Knoxoledge^ judging it fit for that use, desired that it might be made public. It is ac- cordingly published at their request^ without any other alteration in the form of it, than the changing of the two sermons into one continued discourse : and that it may conduce to the end proposed is the hearty wish and prayer pf its author. " ADVERTISEMENT. ** This seventh edition (1810) is published at a time, when it is hoped that so Judicious and scriptural a dis- course may be of service to settle the minds of good Christians, in some present disputes concerning baptismal j^nd spiritual regeneration." 234 No. LXII. Wall's Conference between Two Men that had Doubts about Infant Baptism. '* P. There are some operations of the Holy Spirit, lis working actual faith, repentance, &c. in the h^art, of which an infant indeed is not capable. But when God does apply the pardon of original guilt, does transfer a person out of the state of nature into the state of grace and of the Cliristian covenant, does invite him, as a mem- ber, into the mystical body of Christ, accept him for his child, &c. these things, and these promises, are spoken of in Scripture as done, sealed, and applied to the person by the Spirit. Now, of these latter an infant is capable. And John the Baptist is said to be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. " Aiid a person that is capable of some of the great ends of baptism xvrought by the Spirit, may be baptised for them ; though he be not as yet capable of all the several ends for which baptism is designed. For our Saviour, wlto was not capable of remission of sins, re- generation, Sj-c. was baptised for the other endg that baptism is designed for,'''' P. 33. No. LXIII. A Companion to the Altar. " Those preceding parts of repentance before mention- ed, are only preparative to this ; that which must complete and finish the work of a new convert is, to become a new CREATURE, ' to tum from our evil ways, and to break off * our sins by righteousness.""' P. 14, 15. ^35 No. LXIV. Fleetwood's (Bishop) Reasonable Communicant; or an Explanation of the Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. " Thus, for instance, in the sacrament of baptism there are two things; first, ' The outward and visible sign, * or form, which is water, wherein the person is baptised * in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,' insti- tuted by Christ. Secondly, ' The iuAvard and spiritual * grace, which is a death unto sin and a new birth unto * righteousness ; for, being by nature born in sin, and the * children of wrath, we are, by being baptised, made the * children of grace.' Here the outward and visible sign, or the being baptised in water, in tlie form prescribed, is the means by which the party baptised (// rightly qualified hy Juitli and repentance) receives the grace of having his sins forgiven, and of being adopted one of God's children." P. 12. " Par. But may I not here inquire, Whether the death unto sin, and new birth unto righteousness, before mentioned, do not intimate the conditions upon man's part, on which he enters into covenant with God in baptism ? " Min. Every one, indeed, who is baptised, does thereby engage and stipulate to die to sin, and to Hve to God ; that is, to cease from sin, and live a life of righ- teousness. But the grace of baptism is something be- stowed and promised by God on his part ; and therefore a death unto sin, does here signify the pardon of past sins to him who is duly baptised ; and a new birth unto righ«» teousness, is the promise of God's grace to assist the baptised in hving righteously for the time to come. For every one who is duly qualified^ hy faith and repentance^ to come to baptisraj and is dul}'^ baptised in the matter 235 and manner prescribed by Christ, is actioalbj forgiven aK his past sins, and brought into a state of grace, and be- ©ENEEATED by the Holy Spirit.'" P. 13. No. LXV. The Christian Monitor. " Therefore, consider that this also is the end for which the Holy Ghost is given, and all means of grace afforded, even to sanctify our hearts, and make us an holy, an obedient people. God knows the weakness and corruption of our natui'e, and therefore, in great mercy, he affords the assistance of his Holy Spirit, to enlighten our minds and purify our hearts ; to reneza and chaxge our nature - • - And the holy sacraments were appointed for the increase of grace ^ to all that make a r'lglit use of ihemr P. 12. " If we believe that it is the office of the Holy Ghost to sanctify us and all the elect people of God ; then ought we to pray to God for his Holy Spirit, and we must comply with his good motions, and submit to his working' upon our souls, tliat lie may sanctify us and make us holy, that so we may be living members of Christ'' s lioly Caiho-* He churchy P. 32. No. LXVI. Greene's (Bishop) Principles of Christian Religion. " Q. How does the Holy Ghost carry on the work of Christ upon the souls of men ? " A. By enlightening their minds to discern the va- nity of the world and the evil of sin ; by inclining them to have faith in Christ, that through him they may bo 237 reconciled to God, and made happy in his love ; and by many other ways, not to be expressed by us, that work holy desires and heavenly dispositions in the souls of men . " Q. Can a man be saved without the help of tlie Holy Spirit? *' A. No. For, * except a man he born of the * Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God* John, iii. 5 *. " ' No man can come to Christ, except the Father * draw him by his Holy Spirit ; nor work out his own sal- * vation, but by the same Spuit, which worketh in us both * to will and to do.' John, vi. 44, 45 ; Phil. ii. 12, 13. " ' We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any * thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God,' 2 Cor. iii. 5r P. 23 and 24. No. LXVII. Kidder (Bishop), of Sins of Infirmity, and wilful Sins, " It is an argument of a sad state, when a man can do shameful things, and not be ashamed. And he that sins against these reluctances is in a very sad condition. This is not a spot of God's children, but a mark of a vassal of the devWs Jcingdom, and a subject of the king'. dom of darkness."" P. 5. " For, as a man is not to be reputed a carnal man, because he hath about him some carnal desires and inclina- tions, which he resists, and suffers not to come into act ; * It will not fail to be observed, that the Bishop omits the words " OF WATER, and," in the above verse ; plainly intimating that he considered the spiritual birth of the Spirit as not exclu* •ively given in baptism. '23S so a man is not to be accounted a spiritual man, because he hath some meffectual purj>oses and resolutions/'' P. 5. " For, as no man is to be accounted an holy akd SPIRITUAL man, because he hath now and then :g grace, which has been freely bestowed on him by Christy to subdue the corruptions of his depraved nature." P. 3. " But coidd he obtain a pardon through Christ, who, at the same time, would bring, as a remedy, the Holy Spirit to operate continually on him, till the xew jian was formed in him, and he had attained an utter abhor- rence of sin, and a delight to do the will of God ; then a pardon would indeed avail, and he would have true rea- son to rejoice for so complete a deliverance ; because, by the constant operations of the Holy Spirit, he would be restored to vital holines.'^, that health of soul, which would enable hira to enjoy the society of the blessed." V.5. " There are little children, spiritucdly speaVing, JUST BORX, hanging, as it were, on the breast These know their heavenly Parent, though they know httle else, and call after God, though imperfectly, and with a stam- mering tongue. They desire the sincere milk of the Word, that they may grow ; and yet much gross igno- rance, folly, and weakness remain in them. Such Chris- tians are liable to two great errors. The one is, when they find the comforts of religion : the other, when they -find them not." P. 45. r3 246 No. LXVIII. Dr. Woodward, in the Young Man's ^Monitor, has> these expressions : " For, who can once think that men may fight against God, and come off' with victory and, triunipli ? or that such as serve the devil and bear his likeness upon earth, will be as happy as the regene- rate children of God m the other world?" " Now these are some of the effectual acts of a vi- gorous and effectual faith. For when the sinner comes, through the gi'ace of God, to such an efficacious sense of the siirfulness^ misery, and cursedness of his condition, and to such an affecting belief of the suitableness, suffi- ciency, and willingness of the Lord Jesus Christ to sup- ply all his wants and Avhen he considers, that all that are saved by Christ must be enlightened, renewed, and governed by his Gospel, through the Holy Spirit; and, upon the serious consideration of all this, consents sin- cerely to the whole of it by such acts as these the soul makes its first true steps to leave a state of sin and wrath, and to obtain the mercy and favour of God. Faith is tlie mother-grace, the spring of those noble actions which abound in the regenerate servants of God ; who by this subdue the world, crucify the fiesh, &c. Faith, working by love, makes a new creature Men, wo- men, and children, consider, I pray you, in time, that if we are not regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, and do not become sincerely holy in all manner of con- versation the curses of God''s book belong to us in both worlds.^' P. 38, 39, and 48. £47 No. LXXIX. The Conditions of obtaining Salvation by Jesus Christ. " Q. Do not those zoho truly repent, bclkvc, aiid obey, become quite other men than they tccre before? " A. Yes; for, being rkgexerate axd bohm again,. by the operation of the Holy Spiiit of God, they put oft* their foniier conversation, and become xew creatukes."" r. 11. " Q. Will all people hereafter be admitted to this in- conceivable happiness .'' •' A. Many will seek to be admitted into this happy place, who will be excluded, because they did not strive, that is, tliey did not take jDains enough, nor set about it till it was too late. " Q. AVho are those that will enter ? " A. They ai'e those who repent and are converted, and become xew creatures, and live and walk worthy of Go the substance of the doctrine, neglected.'* Did we forget to lay open the folly and danger of sinful courses, to rouse and awaken the con- science, and earnestly to exhort men to repentance and a new life ? Were the threatenings and promises of the Gospel negligently taught.'^ And is not this the plainest, and most practical and edifying way of spcaldng upon these points ? If your teachers mean any more by this EEGEXERATiOK, than an actual conversion from bad courses to a good one, it may be hard to understand them. We therefore may appeal to yourselves, my bre- thren, whether in this respect you found any want of sound doctrine in our churches ? And, therefore, whe- ther on this account you had any reason, either in whole or in part, to lea\'e us, and to be so fond of other j|ji» §tructors .?" 250 I here close my extraxjts. The books and tracts of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, from "which this third class has been formed, amount to nearly FIFTY, including those of nine Archbishops and Bishops. I have not prefixed the date of the death of the respective authors, as in the two former classes, because many of the works are anonymous, the names of others I happen to be unacquainted with, and the authors of some of those of late date I apprehend are still living. To supply this defect in some measure, and at the same time to give a more connected view of the aggregate testimony of the three classes, I subjoin two lists: the first, of Arch- bishops AND Bishops whose works I have quoted; the second, of the other Divines best known, though not of episcopal rank. The first Series is as follows : Arciibishops and Bishops whose Works are quoted or referred to in the Appendix. 1. Bishop Latimer, died by martyrdom A. D. 1544 2. Bishop Ridley, died by martyrdom . . . 1544 3. Bishop Hooper, died by martyrdom . . . 1555 4. Archbishop Cranraer, died by martyrdom . 1556 5. Bishop Jewel, died 1571 6. Bishop Andrews 1626 7. Bishop Davenant 1641 8. Bishop Hall 1656 9. Archbishop Usher 1656 10. Bishop Taylor 1667 11. Bishop Reynolds 1676 12. Archbishop Leighton 1684 251 13. Bishop Pearson, died . . . , . A. D. 1686 14. Bishop Hopkins . ...... ^ • • 1690 15. Archbishop Tillotson • 1694« 16. Bishop Kidder 1703 17- Bishop Beveridge 1707 18. Bishop Bull 1709 19. Bishop WilUams 1709 20. Bishop Burnet 1715 21. Bishop Fleetwood 1723 22. Bishop Bradford 1731 23. Bishop Mann. 24. Bishop Wilson 1755 25. Bishop Sherlock , . . 1761 26. Archbishop Seeker 1768 27. Bishop Greene 1779 28. Bishop Law 1787 29. Bishop Horsley 1806 The Second Series is as follows ; Other Divixes best known, not of episcopal Rank, whose Works I have cited. 1. John Frith, died by martyrdom . . A. D. 1533 2. William Tindal, died by martyrdom . . . 1536 3. William Turner, died 1568 4. Dr. Fulke 1589 5. Richard Hooker 1600 6. Dean Noel 1602 7. Thomas Rogers. 8. Joseph Mede 1638 9. Author of Whole Duty of Man. 10. Dr. Isaac Barrow 1677 11. Henry Scougal 167a 252 12. John Kettlewell, died A. D. 1C95 13. Dr. WaU. 14. Dr. Woodward. 15. William Burkitt 1703 16. Robert Nelson . . • 1715 17. Dr. South 1716 18. Dr. Whitby 1726 19. John F. Ostervald 1747 20. Dr. Stebbing 1763 21. John Eotherham 1788 22. Sir James Stonliouse 1795 23. Dr. Paley 1805 The number of Archbishops and Bishops thus amounts to twenty-nine ; and that of other celebrated Divines, not of episcopal rank, to twenty-three. To these two lists arc to be added nearly thirty works, chiefly anonymous, adopted and authorized by the So- ciety so often referred to. The whole number of autho- rities is then about eighty, including, as will be acknow- ledged by every scholar, some of the greatest names for j)iety and learning that have ever adorned and blessed our church. 253 Such, then, is the testimony of the Divines of the Church of England, on the important subject in discussion between Dr. Mant and my- self. I might have greatly extended my quo- tations if it had been necessary. But I have cited,' as I conceive, more than enough to make out a most convincing case. I leave the deter- mination, with cheerfulness, to the judgment of every dispassionate reader. The greatest men among the Martyrs and Reformers of our Pro- testant Church, are unanimously opposed to the dangerous position of Dr. Mant. The pious and learned divines who have successively filled their high stations to the present time, bear a similar testimony. The venerable Society for promoting Christian Knowledge has for an hundred years been circulating, and continues still to circulate, numerous books and tracts on the same side of the question. This united testimony, added to the language of the Holy Scriptures, and of the Liturgy, Articles, and Homilies of our Church, appears to me to decide the question, as to all main points, with the utmost moral certainty. Whatever doubts may rest on various subordinate branches of the doctrine of Christian baptism, or however pious and eminent authors may differ in their language on such subjects, the leading position of Dr. Mant is surelv untenable. A death unto sin and 254 a new biitli unto righteousness, is no more in- variably AND NECESSARILY coniiected with the administration of the sacrament of baptism, than the spiritual nourishment of the soul by an union with Christ, is with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. What course the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge may adopt on the subject of Dr. Mant's Tract, it is not for me to presume to say. But, I trust, the great body of our Clergy will continue to see what is the glory and the strength of our truly Apostolical Church, what is most likely to ensure the bless- ing of God and promote the salvation of our peo- ple. I trust they will simply and firmly adhere to the old doctrine of all the Protestant communi- ties, as well as of our own, on the subject of the sacraments; attributing to them honour and re- gard, but not superstitious veneration; consi- dering them as the only signs and seals, but not the only means of grace ; ascribing to them efficacy, but not necessary operation; speaking of them in the energetic and customary language employed by the Scriptures, and by all the Re- formed Churches, but not wresting sacramental expressions to a meaning which they were never intended to convey, and which, ulti- mately, tends to subvert other important truths of the Christian faith ; and, in a word, equally avoiding the temerity of the Schismatic, who would undervalue the grace and efficacv of the 255 sacraments, and the misguided zeal of the Papist, who would ascribe to them an invariable force, from a mere external and naked adminis- tration. THE END. Printed b/ S. Cornell, Little Queea Street, Loadon. ERRATA. Page 9, Note, for No. XI. read, XII. 47, Notes, for No. II. read. No. XII. and//>r No. XIII. read, XVI. J 98, /or Bishop Sherlock died 1768, read, 1761. "1