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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
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 Presented by Mr Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Agjiciv Coil, on Baptism, No. 
 
 
 ima^mamti^mm 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arcinive 
 
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 Princeton Tiieoiogicai Seminary Library 
 
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GENERAL VIEW 
 
 DOCTRINE 
 
 KEGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 
 
 BY THE RIGHT REV. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER ^:BETHELL, D.D. 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF BANGOR. 
 
 THIRD EDITION, REVISED. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RTVINGTON, 
 
 ST. Paul's church yard, 
 
 AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. 
 
 1839. 
 
LONDON : 
 .BF.RT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, 
 
 ST. juun's square. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 Some years have now passed away, since I was in- 
 formed by my late respectable publisher \ that this 
 treatise, published in 1822, was out of print, and 
 was recommended by him to publish a second 
 edition. It is needless to assign the reasons which 
 have hitherto prevented me from acceding to this 
 suggestion. It will be sufficient to say that the 
 delay has not been occasioned by any change of 
 opinion, or any intention of altering or modifying 
 the doctrinal statements which I then submitted to 
 the public. 
 
 In some of the numerous tracts which have issued 
 of late years from the press, suggesting alterations 
 in the Book of Common Prayer, the revision of the 
 Baptismal services, with a view to the exclusion of 
 the opinions maintained in this work, has been 
 
 ' Mr, C. Rivin^on. 
 A 2 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 strongly rocommeiided. The Churcli of England 
 however will not, I am persuaded, consent to erase 
 from her formularies a doctrine which she has 
 received as a Catholic verity, founded in God's word, 
 held by the universal Church from the time of the 
 Apostles till the days of Zuinglius and Calvin, and 
 deliberately retained by the Fathers of her Re- 
 formation. 
 
 Of those who advocate the changes to which I am 
 adverting, there are some who do not go the length 
 of condemning this doctrine as unscriptural, or 
 mischievous, but recommend this revision of our 
 services on principles of conciliation and concession. 
 Were this a question of words only, or of things 
 indifferent and of little value, such a proposal might 
 be a fair subject of inquiry and discussion. But if it 
 relates to the very nature and efficacy of a Sacra- 
 ment, and if the alterations suggested involve not 
 merely the mode of stating a doctrine, but that 
 doctrine itself, compromise and concession are in- 
 admissible. If the doctrine of Regeneration in 
 Baptism is unscriptural, it ought to be abandoned 
 without hesitation. If it is, as we are persuaded, 
 the doctrine of Scripture, explained and illustrated 
 by the history of the Church of Christ, we dare not 
 expunge it from our service books, or our Articles 
 of religion, in deference to the opinion of those 
 whom we believe to be in error. 
 
 Those objectors, who call for this revision of our 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 offices for tlic administration of Baptism, because 
 they conceive the doctrine contained in them to be 
 unscriptural, must be referred to the body of the 
 following work. How justly it is liable to this ob- 
 jection, and with what show of reason it has been 
 numbered among the errors and corruptions of 
 Christianity, I must leave to my readers to de- 
 termine. 
 
 I have lying before me an anonymous pamphlet ' 
 which presents a striking specimen of the prejudices 
 against this doctrine into which men are often be- 
 trayed by the course of reading which they pursue, 
 and the language which they hear from their in- 
 structors. I do not allude to this pamphlet on 
 account of any importance which I attach to it, 
 because the wTiter, though he throws out assertions 
 with unflinching intrepidity, is evidently unac- 
 quainted both with the state of the question, and 
 with the history of Theological opinion. I shall 
 merely advert to a few passages of this book, as 
 exhibiting a sample of prevailing errors, and of the 
 manner in which gentlemen, who know nothing of 
 the plainest facts of ecclesiastical history, think 
 themselves qualified to censure our service book, 
 and to reform the doctrines of our Church. 
 
 1 Reasons for refusing to sign the Lay Address to the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury : in a Letter to a Friend. Hatchard, 
 1834. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 The writer, assuming the correctness of his own 
 views of the nature of Regeneration, and of the 
 meaning of the word in Scripture, very naturally 
 comes to the conclusion, that the doctrine main- 
 tained by our Church is unsound and unscriptural ; 
 and proceeds to give what he imagines to be an his- 
 torical account of this corruption of pure and primi- 
 tive Christianity. 
 
 He attributes, for instance, the assertion of this 
 doctrine by the Church of England to the compro- 
 mising policy of Elizabeth and her counsellors ' ; 
 who, as he informs us, in order to conciliate the 
 Papists, were anxious to retain as much of Popery 
 as they could in the construction of our Liturgy and 
 Articles. In matters indifferent, it was a wise 
 and just policy to retain those ancient and decent 
 usages, to which the people had been accustomed. 
 But the learned and pious Divines to whom the 
 management of our Reformation was intrusted, 
 while they retrenched with an unsparing hand the 
 superstitious practices and unsound doctrines of 
 Popery, did not renounce either the tenets or the 
 usages of the Apostolic and universal Church, 
 merely because they had been held, and in some 
 cases, perhaps, perverted by the Church of Rome, in 
 the days of its ascendancy. They were content to 
 loj) off excrescences and to remove corruptions, 
 
 ' Pp. IG— 20. 27. o-l, 55. 
 
 I 
 
PREFACE. VI 1 
 
 without destroying the substance of primitive and 
 Cathohc doctrine. 
 
 Takinof for o-ranted that the doctrine of infant 
 baptismal regeneration is a Popish tenet bequeathed 
 to us by the pohcy of Ehzabeth, the author brings 
 forward, as a strong prejudice against it, and as a 
 symptom of its papal origin, the fact that it places 
 the spiritual condition of a human soul at the dis- 
 cretion of a fellow-creature \ But he seems to 
 forget that this is in accordance with the state and 
 circumstances of our common nature ; that the 
 sj)iritual, no less than the temporal, welfare of 
 children is deeply involved in the care and faith- 
 fulness of those to whom they are intrusted : and 
 that whenever a duty connected with the happiness 
 of our fellow-creatures is imposed on such frail and 
 sinful beings as we are, it may be, and too often is 
 neglected, at the hazard of their best interests. But 
 the Church of England does not put any harsh con- 
 struction on the case of infants dying without bap- 
 tism. We hold, indeed, that children who are 
 baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are 
 undoubtedly saved ; but we do not hold that infants 
 dying without baptism are undoubtedly damned : 
 and though we do not venture to si3eak peremp- 
 torily of their condition, we leave them without 
 despair or distrust in the hands of a merciful 
 Saviour. 
 
 ' P. 27. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 The writer of this Pamphlet, who seems to charge 
 our Church, by implication, with holding the more 
 rigid opinion, speaks upon this subject with his 
 usual confidence and want of correct information. 
 That infants dying unbaptized are not saved, is not, 
 as he supposes, a Popish doctrine, but was the com- 
 mon opinion of the ancient Christians, long before 
 the corruptions of Popery gained ground in the 
 Church. 
 
 Inferring with good reason the necessity of Bap- 
 tism to salvation, from the words of the institution, 
 from John iii. 5, and from other passages of Scrip- 
 ture, they nevertheless made an exception, on prin- 
 ciples of natural equity and charity, in behalf of 
 those catechumens who suffered martyrdom for 
 Christ's sake, and of those who before their death 
 had expressed a resolution or a desire of receiving 
 that sacrament. But, since infants could neither 
 suffer, voluntarily at least, for Christ's sake, nor 
 entertain a desire of Baptism, they did not extend 
 this charitable limitation to their case, though they 
 endeavoured to soften the harshness of this sen- 
 tence by representing their condition as a kind of 
 middle state, subjecting them to no positive pain, 
 but shutting them out from such privileges and 
 blessings as are peculiar to the elect. This opinion 
 was held in the Church of Rome at the time of 
 the Reformation ; and the schoolmen grafted upon 
 it the fiction of a linibus infantiwn, a kind <>f border, 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 or outground, parted off from the place of torments, 
 in which the souls of these infants are detained. 
 In the first formularies of faith ^ composed in the 
 reign of Henry VIII., the necessity, in the strict 
 sense, of Baptism was asserted. But that assertion 
 was afterwards withdrawn ; and though our Church 
 has neither pronounced peremptorily upon the case, 
 nor ceased to teach that Baptism is "generally 
 necessary to salvation," her divines have always 
 placed the charitable latitude of construction on 
 the precepts which enjoin it. " For grace (as 
 Hooker^ expresses their sentiments on this head) 
 is not absolutely tied unto sacraments ; and such 
 is the lenity of God, that unto things impossible 
 he bindeth no man." It was this judgment of 
 charity which induced the compilers of the " Office 
 for the Baptism of those of Riper Years," to qualify 
 the conclusion drawn from John iii. 5, as to the 
 necessity of Baptism with the words where it may 
 he had ; on which the writer of the Pamphlet makes 
 this edifying reflection ^ " Had they " (the divines 
 of Charles II.) " possessed either reflection or mo- 
 desty, when they felt it necessary so to qualify our 
 Saviour's words, in order to fit them to their own 
 conjectural exposition of John iii. 5, they would 
 
 ' Formularies of Faith, Oxford, 1825. Comp. pp. xix. 7. 93. 
 with p. 254. 
 
 ^ Hooker's Eccl. Pol. b. vi. s. 60. ' P. 66. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 shrewdly have suspected that they misinterpreted 
 or misapplied the text." 
 
 The writer appears to take for granted, as a matter 
 too notorious to need any proof, that the metapho- 
 rical interpretation of the word water^ in John iii. 5, 
 was the sense uniformly received in the purer ages 
 of Christianity \ and consequently that in those 
 days this doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration was 
 unknown to the Church of Christ. Having assumed 
 
 * The metaphorical sense usually assigned to this passage is, 
 " Except a man be born again of the Spirit, acting like water, he 
 cannot enter into the kingdom of God." But in the opinion of 
 the writer before us', "water" signifies Repentance, and 
 " Spirit " faith ; so that our Saviour's address to Nicodemus is 
 equivalent to his call to " repent and believe the Gospel." In 
 another place ^ he tells us that repentance and faith are sure 
 signs of spiritual regeneration : and infers from hence that 
 since our Catechism mentions repentance and faith as pre- 
 requisites for Baptism, it does not inculcate the doctrine of 
 baptismal regeneration, and, consequently, is inconsistent with 
 the offices for the administration of Baptism. He evidently 
 does not understand that he is assuming the very point in 
 debate. For they who think that the word " Regeneration " 
 in its strict and Scriptural sense, denotes that peculiar grace 
 which is bestowed in Baptism, do not look upon faith and 
 repentance as signs of Regeneration, but as necessary qualifica- 
 tions, in adults, for receiving that grace. This is the doctrine of 
 our Catechism, which teaches us that faith and repentance are 
 required of persons to be baptized ; but that the inward and 
 spiritual grace of Baptism is " a death unto sin and a new birth 
 unto righteousness : for being by nature born in sin, and children 
 of wrath, we are hereby (i. e. by baptism) made the children of 
 grace." 
 
 ' P. 39, 40. '' P. 38. 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 this point, he proceeds to inform us, that what he 
 elsewhere calls the conjectural exposition of the 
 divines who compiled our " Office for the adminis- 
 tration of Baptism to such as are of riper years," 
 was a device of the Papists to magnify the virtue 
 of a sacrament. " The Papists," he tells us, " always 
 anxious to magnify a church ordinance, thought 
 proper, ujjon a bold misconstruction of John iii. 5, 
 to declare the ceremony of baptizing infants to be 
 salvation, if they died before actual sin; and, cal- 
 culating boldly upon the ignorance of the laity, 
 supported their dogma by texts which are referrible 
 only to the baptism of proselytes \" " They hoped ^ 
 to add to the attraction of their communion by 
 raising a rite, highly proper in itself, to the unjus- 
 tifiable pretension of a saving ordinance ; and for 
 that purpose understood the word water, John iii. 5, 
 in its literal sense, and insisted that the kingdom 
 of God meant the kingdom of glory ^" "To sus- 
 
 ' P. 41. ' P. 42. 
 
 * The ancients maintained that the kingdom of God in these 
 texts of Scripture ' signifies the kingdom of glory, because it 
 cannot be affirmed with truth that no man can see the kingdom 
 of God in this world, " except he be born again." But I do not 
 think that there is much force in this reasoning, because the 
 word " see " may be taken, without any violence to the common 
 usage of language, in a metaphorical sense. But the notion that 
 to " see " or " enter into the kingdom of God," signifies " to 
 become a member of the visible Church," is a very inadequate 
 
 ' John iii. 3. 5. 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 tain this dogma of baptismal salvation ', the Papists 
 were driven to assert, that the injunction in St. 
 Matthew to teach the Christian faith and to admi- 
 nister the Baptism of proselytism ^ to them that 
 received it, was not the application of an old rite 
 to a new faith, but that it was the institution of 
 a new Baptism, foretold and described by our Lord 
 in his conversation with Nicodemus. It did not 
 suit the papists to recollect that ' water ' was fre- 
 quently used not instrumentally but symbolically, 
 to signify purification or rejDentance ; and that in 
 
 representation of our Saviour's language. If the phrase, " the 
 kingdom of God," includes, as it well may, the state of grace, 
 as well as the state of glory, to *' see " or " enter " into it, mani- 
 festly means, to be made partakers of the peculiar privileges, 
 blessings, hopes, and promises of the Gospel kingdom. 
 
 The writer, while he contends that to be '* born of water and 
 of the Spirit " signifies to repent and believe, at the same time 
 tells us that " the kingdom of God " signifies the visible Church. 
 But that none but sincere penitents and true believers, none, in 
 short, but those who are called, in a common and familiar way 
 of speaking, " truly regenerate," can enter into the visible 
 Church, is probably more than he intended to affirm. 
 
 ^ P. 42. 
 
 * The writer seems to look upon Baptism as nothing more than 
 the continuance of a Jewish rite ; a simple ceremony of initiation 
 into the visible Church. But he cannot expect that the Church 
 of England will change her views and definitions in deference to 
 his opinion, or forget that her Lord, when he adopted a form of 
 initiation not unknown to his countrymen, " added," as Bishop 
 Taylor expresses himself, " the Spirit to the water, and made it a 
 Sacrament or saving ordinance." " Our Saviour Christ altered 
 and changed the same (the Jewish washings) into a profitable 
 Sacrament." — Homily on Fasting. 
 
I'REFAf'E. XIll 
 
 some cases, (John iv. 14 ; vii. 37, 8, 9.) tlie word 
 occurs without any reference to natural water at 
 all, even as a symbol. The Papists also omit to 
 notice, that there is an inward new birth, (1 Pet. 
 i. 23.) wholly unconnected with water or any out- 
 ward ceremonial." 
 
 It is not my intention to follow this writer 
 through the reasonings and illustrations by which 
 he has undertaken to prove that his own notions 
 on this question are sound and scriptural, and that 
 the doctrine of the Church of England is " flat 
 Popery." I refer, as I have already stated, to this 
 Pamphlet, only because it exhibits a specimen of 
 popular and current errors, and of the hardihood 
 with which men, in their eagerness to condemn 
 opinions which they have been accustomed to look 
 upon with suspicion and dislike, substitute conjec- 
 ture and imao-ination for facts and history. 
 
 A learned divine, whose statements are not built 
 upon hypothesis or fancy, but on a laborious exami- 
 nation of the writings of the ancient Christians, 
 might have taught the writer, " that all the ancient 
 Christians, not one excepted, do take the word ' Re- 
 generation,' or new birth, to signify Baptism, and 
 ' regenerate,' baptized ; and that our Saviour's words 
 to Nicodemus do so stand in the original, and are 
 so understood by all the ancients, as to exclude 
 unbaptized persons from the kingdom of heaven. 
 And that by ' the kingdom of God,' there is meant 
 
 8 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 the kingdom of glory, is proved from the plain words 
 of the context, and from the sense of all ancient 
 interpreters'." 
 
 " All the ancient Christians ^ do understand that 
 rule of our Saviour ^ (John iii. 5) of Baptism : I be- 
 
 ' Wall on Infant Baptism, vol. ii. p. 451, 3d Edit. 
 
 2 Wall, vol. ii. p. 260, 3d Edit. 
 
 ' The author intimates that the Papists, in order to give 
 countenance to the literal interpretation of the word " water," 
 (John iii. 5,) perverted another passage of Scripture by explain- 
 ing " fire " (]\ratt. iii. 11) of the cloven tongues which sat on the 
 disciples in the day of Pentecost. 
 
 The fact is, that when Calvin and his followers gave a meta- 
 phorical sense to the word " water," they adduced the Baptist's 
 words in proof of the validity of their interpretation, atSrming 
 that as the one passage undoubtedly means spirilus igneus, so 
 the other must mean spiritus aqueus. But it was replied, that 
 this was to support one gratuitous assumption by another. 
 Thus Hooker (Eccl. Pol. b. v. s. 59.) : " By water and Spirit 
 we are to understand in this place (as they imagine) no more 
 than if the Spirit alone had been mentioned, and water not 
 spoken of. Which they think is plain, because elsewhere it is 
 not improbable, that the Holy Ghost and Jire do but signify the 
 Holy Ghost in operation resembling fire. Whereupon they 
 conclude, that seeing " fire " in one place jnay be, therefore 
 " water" in another place is but a metaphor — Spirit the inter- 
 pretation thereof ; and so the words do only mean, that unless 
 a man be born again of the S^nrit, he cannot enter into the king- 
 dom of God. *' Must we needs, at the only show of a critical 
 conceit, utterly condemn them of error, which will not admit 
 that 'fire' in the words of John is quenched with the name of 
 the Holy Ghost, or with the name of the Spirit ' water ' dried 
 up in the words of Christ ?" 
 
 The ancients were of opinion that these words contain a 
 prophetical allusion to the cloven tongues, but they did not 
 confine the word to that occurrence, but supposed that it denoted 
 those effects of the Spirit's agency, of which the cloven tongues 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 lieve Calvin to have been the first who ever denied 
 this place to mean Baptism, He gives another 
 
 were the signs or symbols. They considered them, therefore, 
 as a prophecy of the influence of the Spirit, consigned to the 
 Church through our Lord's baptism, and of the powerful work- 
 ing and effects of that influence '. 
 
 There is something specious in the explanation of Matt. iii. 11. 
 which supposes that the Baptist in the words he shall baptize 
 you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, is speaking of two classes 
 or persons, one of which, corresponding with the " wheat, " 
 (v. 12.) was to be baptized with the Holy Ghost; the other, 
 corresponding with the chaff, was to be baptized with fire : i. e. 
 the fire of calamity and destruction. But the structure of the 
 sentence shows that, whatever may be the full meaning of the 
 word " fire," the Baptism intended could be one only, and 
 that the same persons were to be baptized both with the Holy 
 Ghost and with fire. There is no force in the Author's remark, 
 that the word " you " means only the by-standers, and therefore 
 cannot denote those on whom the Holy Ghost fell on the day 
 of Pentecost. The words are prophetic, extending to every age 
 of tlie Christian Church. 
 
 The writer ^ finds fault with the phrase used in our Liturgy, 
 " the laver of Regeneration in Baptism." He tells us that the 
 word " laver" does not signify washing, but the vessel in which 
 the water is contained ; and that therefore in this passage " the 
 instrument of Regeneration, as it is called by some of our di- 
 vines, is not water but stone." He does not appear to be aware 
 that the word " laver " (/avacrwrn) or " bath," as Hooker ren- 
 ders it, corresponds precisely with the word of the original 
 (Xovrpov, Tit. iii. 5.) and is capable of being taken in the same 
 latitude. That word signifies either the place of bathing, or 
 the water contained in it, or the act of washmg. In this 
 passage it certainly does not mean, as this gentleman humorously 
 supposes, " the stone font," but either the water which the 
 child is baptized, or the act of washing or baptizing. 
 
 ' See Scriptural View, Note A. p. 209. ' P. 65. 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 interpretation, (Inst. 1. 4. c. xvi. s. §5.) which he 
 confesses to be new." 
 
 After quoting a passage from Justin Martyr, in 
 which to be born again signifies to be baptized, he 
 states his own reasons for adducing it ^ : — 
 
 " Because it shows that the Christians in those 
 days used the word ' Regeneration ' for Bajitism, 
 and that they were taught to do so by the apostles. 
 And it will appear, by the multitude of places which 
 I shall produce, that they used it customarily, and 
 ajiplied it as much to signify Baptism, as we do 
 
 f the word ' christening.' Because we see by it that 
 they understood that rule of our Saviour, (John 
 iii. 5.) of water Baptism, and concluded from it 
 that without such Baptism no man could come to 
 
 J heaven." 
 
 So likewise Hooker ^ " To hide the general 
 consent of antiquity agreeing in the literal inter- 
 pretation, they (Cartwright, &c.) cunningly affirm 
 that certain have taken these words as meant of 
 material water, when they know that of all the 
 
 I ancients there is not one to be named, that ever did 
 otherwise expound or allege the place, than as im- 
 plying external Baptism." 
 
 These quotations from authors of unquestionable 
 accuracy and authority, will suffice to show how 
 little acquainted the writer is with the history of 
 
 • Wall, vol. i. p. -I'l. ■ Eccl. P. b. v. s. h\). 
 
PREFACE. XVll 
 
 the interpretation of John iii. 5. which he arraigns 
 as a papistical contrivance, and a corrupt innovation 
 on the pure and primitive doctrine of Christianity. 
 
 In another part of his Pamphlet ^ he informs 
 us that transubstantiation and baptismal salvation, 
 which he classes together as branches of the same 
 corrupt doctrine, are " the two great subjects of dis- 
 pute between Protestants and [Roman] Catholics." 
 
 But the truth is, that the doctrine of Baptismal 
 Regeneration or salvation, though it has been called in 
 question by those Protestant Churches (usually called 
 the Reformed Churches) which have adopted the sen- 
 timents of Zuinglius and Calvin, and their off-shoots, 
 the Arminians and Socinians, is the doctrine not 
 of the Church of Rome only, and of all the Eastern 
 Churches, but of the Protestant Lutheran Churches, 
 and the Protestant Church of England and Ireland. 
 In common with the Church of Rome and the 
 Lutheran Churches, we hold that Regeneration or 
 the new birth, is the spiritual grace of Baptism 
 conveyed over to the soul in the due administration 
 of that sacrament. We hold, in common with those 
 Churches, that in adults duly qualified by repent- 
 ance and faith, the guilt of sin, both original and 
 actual, is cancelled in Baptism ; that in infants, who 
 have committed no actual or wilful sin, and can 
 possess no such qualifications, the guilt of original 
 
 ' P. 54. 
 a 
 
XVlll PREFACE. 
 
 sin is done away ; and that infants, no less than 
 adults, are made in Baptism children of God, mem- 
 bers of Christ, inheritors of the kingdom of heaven, 
 and partakers of the privileges, and blessings, and 
 promises of the Gospel covenant. ^ But the Church 
 of Rome contends that not only the guilt, but the 
 very essence and being of original sin is removed 
 by Baptism ; the Church of England declares that 
 " this corruption of nature remains even in the 
 regenerate." The Church of Rome has decreed that 
 that " concupiscence [or fuel (fomes) as it is called] 
 which remains after Baptism has not, properly 
 
 * Si quis per Jesu Christi Domini nostri gratiam, quae in Bap- 
 tismate confertur, reatum peccati originalis remitti negat, aut 
 etiam asserit non tolli totum id, quod veram et propriam peccati 
 vim habet, sed illud dicit tantum radi aut non imputari, ana- 
 thema sit. In renatis enim nihil odit Deus, quia nihil in iis 
 est damnationis, qui vere consepulti sunt cum Christo per Bap- 
 tismain mortem, qui non secundum carnem ambulant, sed veterem 
 hominem exuentes, et novum, qui secundum Deum creatus est, 
 induentes, puri, innoxii, ac Deo dilecti effecti sunt, haeredes qui- 
 dem Dei, cohaeredes autem Christi, ita ut nihil prorsus eos ab in- 
 gressu coeli remoretur. Manere autem in baptizatis concu- 
 piscentiam vel fomitem, haec sancta Synodus fatetur et sentit, 
 quae cum ad agonem relicta sit, nocere non consentientibus, 
 et viriliter per Christi Jesu gratiam repugnantibus non valet ; 
 quinimo qui legitime * certaverit, coronabitur. Hanc concu- 
 piscentiam, quam aliquando Apostolus ^ peccatum appellat, 
 Sancta Synodus declarat Ecclesiam Catholicam nunquam intel- 
 lexisse peccatum appellari, quod vere et proprie in renatis 
 peccatum sit, sed quia ex peccato est, et ad peccatum inclinat. 
 Si quis autem contrarium senserit, anathema sit. — Canones et 
 decreta Concilii Tridentini, sessio quinta. — Cat. Cone. Trid. 
 pars ii. c. 2. 43. 
 
 ' 2 Tim. ii. 5. ' Rom. vii. 7. 13. 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 speaking, the nature of sin ;" whereas we affirm 
 that " concupiscence has the nature of sin," and 
 allege the authority of an apostle in support of our 
 opinion. We believe that sacraments are not only 
 signs of grace, but means or instruments through 
 which God consigns over to the soul the grace 
 which they signify. The follow^ers of Zuinglius and 
 Calvin, with whom the author of this Pamphlet 
 agrees, contend that this is the very error of the 
 opus operatum — the. opinion, that is, that where there 
 is no positive bar, sacraments produce a saving 
 effect without suitable affections on the part of 
 the recipient. We however affirm, as a general 
 truth, that such affections of mind are indispensable, 
 and that where they are wanting, sacraments pro- 
 duce no beneficial effects. But, as we are convinced 
 that the Baptism of infants is a part of our Saviour's 
 institution, we do not conceive that, in their case, 
 the unavoidable want of these qualifications is any 
 impediment to the saving grace of the sacrament. 
 
 The writer of this Pamphlet, however, after find- 
 ing fault with the interrogatories tendered to, and 
 the answers given by the sureties, in behalf of in- 
 fants, says that " the declaration that they have 
 become ' regenerate,' however suited to the com- 
 promising policy of Elizabeth, who wished to con- 
 ciliate the Romanists, has opened a wide door for 
 disunion and controversy in the present day, when 
 instead of looking to the authority of the Church 
 
 a 2 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 as conclusive, men think for themselves, and refer 
 to their Bibles \" That " the laity see that the 
 clergy are divided on the subject of infant baptismal 
 Regeneration, and are indignant when, instead of 
 texts, they are furnished w^ith tracts replete with 
 arguments borrowed from the Church of Rome, and 
 presenting specimens of logical deduction, which 
 would be disgraceful even to children ^ ;" that " when 
 our Church repudiated the opus operatum of the 
 Papists, it ought to have expunged the word ' rege- 
 nerated,' which properly belongs to it, instead of 
 suffering the expression to remain in its baptismal 
 service, and cause disunion among our clergy — some 
 of them writing and speaking as if they secretly 
 believed in the opus operatum, and others straining 
 every nerve to show that 'Regeneration' does not 
 mean Regeneration ; by which, after all, they only 
 prove that the word ought to be changed \" 
 
 It is deeply to be regretted that differences of 
 opinion should exist on the subject before us be- 
 tween members of our communion, whether of the 
 laity or of the clergy ; and we fully recognize the 
 right of all Christians to " think for themselves, and 
 to refer to their Bibles." But we would remind 
 the author that the meaning and drift of certain 
 passages of Scripture are the hinge on which this 
 controversy turns ; and we may be allowed to doubt, 
 
 ' P. 58. ' P. 68, 69. •' P. 76, 77. 
 
 12 
 
PREFACE. XXI 
 
 whether he, and the guides whom he follows, are 
 the best expositors of these passages. We may 
 be permitted at least, till we are better informed, 
 to adhere to that interpretation of them which the 
 Church of England, treading in the steps of all 
 Christian antiquity, has adopted and made her own. 
 We are persuaded that the more the doctrine and 
 polity of our Church are examined and sifted, the 
 more they will be approved by fair and unpre- 
 judiced enquirers. But we cannot undertake to 
 reform and remodel our Liturgy, in deference to 
 the sufforestions of men, however excellent and 
 exemplary, who have departed, as we conceive, in 
 this instance, from the form of sound words deli- 
 vered down to us by our forefathers, and have 
 embraced the opinions of another school of the- 
 ology. 
 
 Whilst I was revising this work, and preparing 
 it for the press, I was favoured with a copy of Mr. 
 Professor Pusey's " Scriptural views of Baptism." 
 It is highly satisfactory to me to find the views 
 which I had long ago taken of this part of my sub- 
 ject, confirmed by an author not less distinguished 
 by laborious research, and an extensive acquaint- 
 ance with Christian antiquity, than by the vein of 
 piety and high Christian feeling, which pervades 
 his Treatise. There are, however, points in which 
 there is an apparent difference between my state- 
 
XXn PREFACE. 
 
 ments and those of the learned Professor, in regard 
 to which, after due consideration, I cannot alter 
 the language which I have employed, nor retract 
 the opinions which I have espoused. 
 
 The Professor very justly observes, that " our 
 Saviour's words (John iii. 5.) refuse to be bound 
 down to any mere outward change of state or cir- 
 cumstances or relation, however glorious the pri- 
 vileges of that new condition may be ^" They who 
 deny the connection between Baptism and Rege- 
 neration, look upon the sacrament as no more than 
 an act of initiation into the visible church, implying 
 a change of outward state and circumstances only ; 
 but they put no such construction as that adverted 
 to on our Saviour's words. But, without pretend- 
 ing to know who the persons are whose opinions 
 are alluded to, or whether the remark is meant to 
 include Waterland, I still think that the statement 
 which I have borrowed from that eminent Divine, 
 who speaks of Regeneration as a change not "of 
 outward but of spiritual state, circumstances, and 
 relations," supplies a safer and truer account of the 
 grace conferred in Baptism, than any definition or 
 representation of this grace which may seem to 
 identify it with conversion, repentance, faith, or any 
 of those Christian virtues or holy habits which are 
 the fruits and evidences of the Spirit's influence. 
 
 ' Scriptural View, p. 18. 
 
PREFACE. XXIll 
 
 The Church of Rome ', indeed, affirms that " the 
 grace bestowed in Baptism is not only that grace 
 by which the remission of sin is effected, but a 
 divine quality inhering in the soul ; a kind of bright- 
 ness and light, which not only eflPaces all the stains 
 of our souls, but renders them more beautiful and 
 shining; and that to this grace is added a most 
 noble company of all virtues which is poured into 
 the soul by God." The Calvinistic divines accom- 
 modated this description of regenerating grace to 
 their own views of Regeneration. It would appear 
 too from some passages of the Professor's Treatise, 
 that he himself has no strong objections to the notion 
 of some such change being effected in the souls of 
 infants by the regenerating grace of Baptism. But, 
 to my mind, such statements as these seem to 
 depend rather on imagination and hypothesis, than 
 on Scriptural authority or just reasoning. A trans- 
 lation from a natural state in Adam to a spiritual 
 state in Christ, the forgiveness of sin, adoption, a 
 covenanted title to everlasting happiness, and a 
 
 ' Est autem gratia (i. e. gratia baptismatis) quemadmodum 
 Tridentina synodus ab omnibus credendum poena anathematis 
 propositi decrevit, non solum per quam peccatorum sit re- 
 missio, sed divina qualitas in anima inhaerens, et veluti 
 splendor quidam et lux, quae animarum nostrarum maculas 
 omnes delet, ipsasque animas pulchriores et splendidiores 
 reddit. Huic autem additur nobilissimus virtutum om- 
 nium comitatus, quae in animam cum gratia divinitus infun- 
 duntur. — Cat. Cone. Trid. Pars ii. s. 50, 51. Syn. Trid. s. vi. 
 c. 7. 
 
 if 
 
XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 new princijile of spiritual life consigned over to the 
 soul by a mysterious operation of the Holy Ghost, 
 which we can neither describe in words nor discern 
 by its effects, are the chief particulars which we 
 include in the grace of Regeneration, and which we 
 think are spoken of with much propriety as a change 
 not of outward but of inward and spiritual state, cir- 
 cumstances, and relations. But we do not con- 
 ceive that any actual conversion of the soul to 
 God, or any creation or infusion of those graces 
 or virtues which are the ordinary fruits of the 
 Holy Ghost, takes place at that time in the souls 
 of infants. 
 
 In support of the account of Regeneration which 
 I have adopted from Waterland, I would observe, 
 as has been remarked in the body of the work, 
 that this notion of a change of spiritual state appears 
 to agree better with the analogy on which the meta- 
 phor of "a new birth" is founded, than that of a 
 change of heart, that is, of affections and inward 
 feelings, or of a creation or infusion of moral habits 
 or virtues. For as the natural birth is a change of 
 state and circumstances, and relation to outward 
 things, so is the spiritual birth, or entrance into a 
 spiritual life, a change of state and circumstances, 
 and relations to God and another world. 
 
 Again ; it is admitted I believe by all who hold 
 this doctrine, that the grace bestowed in Baptism 
 is one simi)le act of the Holy Ghost ; that " even 
 
PREFACE. XXV 
 
 in this kind" (/. e. the participation of infused grace) 
 " the first beginning of life, the seed of God, the 
 first-fruits of the Spirit, are without latitude * ;" are 
 bestowed equally on all, without degrees or yariety. 
 But we cannot conceive of repentance, or faith, or 
 any of those religious graces which are often identi- 
 fied with Regeneration, as existing otherwise than 
 with latitude. They are dispositions or habits of 
 mind which necessarily imply in different subjects 
 different degrees of strength and weakness, pro- 
 gressive improvement or gradual decay. On the 
 other hand, such a change of spiritual state and 
 circumstances as we suppose to take place in Bap- 
 tism, is a simple simultaneous act, which cannot be 
 better illustrated than in the language of Hooker, 
 when arguing against the iteration of Baj)tisni. 
 " For how should we practise iteration of Bap- 
 tism, and yet teach that we are by Baptism born 
 anew ; that by Baptism we are admitted into the 
 heavenly society of saints; that those things be 
 really and effectually done by Baptism, which are 
 no more possible to be often done, than a man can 
 naturally be often born, or civilly be often adopted 
 into one stock or family ? As Christ hath therefore 
 died and rose from the dead but once, so that 
 sacrament which both extinguisheth in him our 
 former sin, and beginneth in us a new condition of 
 
 ' Hooker's Eccl, Pol. 1. v. s. 56. 
 
XXVI PREFACE. 
 
 life, is by one only actual administration for ever 
 available ^" 
 
 But, in addition to these reasons for adhering to 
 my former statement, conversion of the heart to 
 God, faith, hope, charity, repentance, necessarily 
 suppose some knowledge of God, and, by conse- 
 quence, instruction of some kind or other in the 
 truths of religion. But we know that infants are in- 
 capable of receiving such instruction ; we observe in 
 them no traces or symptoms of such knowledge, and 
 have no reason to believe that it is miraculously com- 
 municated to them. We conclude, therefore, that 
 since they are incapable of those habits and affec- 
 tions of mind which necessarily presuppose some 
 knowledge of God, such habits and affections do 
 not constitute the spiritual and inward grace of 
 Baptism. In the case of adults, indeed, it is allowed 
 that these good qualities or habits, wdiich Waterland 
 classes under the head of renovation, however they 
 may be strengthened and confirmed by the grace con- 
 ferred in Baptism, must precede that sacrament as 
 qualifications for its due and saving reception ; and 
 consequently, as we contend, must precede their 
 Regeneration. 
 
 For these reasons, without positively saying that 
 that description of Regeneration which 1 have es- 
 poused and attempted to illustrate in several parts 
 
 ' Efd. Pol. 1. V. s. 62. 
 
PREFACE. XXVll 
 
 of the following work, has fallen under the Profes- 
 sor's animadversion, I must retain my former state- 
 ments of this matter. It is but just to observe, 
 that I have no reason to conclude from the Pro- 
 fessor's ^\Titings, that he has any acquaintance with 
 my work upon this subject. 
 
 There is one other point on which my opinion 
 differs from that of the Professor, and where I 
 am not, I confess, convinced that I have been mis- 
 taken. 
 
 In his remarks on 1 John iii. 9 ^ the learned Pro- 
 fessor finds fault with the comment of many able 
 and judicious divines on this passage *. He doth not 
 
 ^ P. 166—171. 
 
 ^ Hammond, Grotius, Whitby, Doddridge, Rosenmiiller, qua- 
 lify the passage in this manner. 
 
 Gataker (Adv. Misc. c. 33.) has a dissertation on this pas- 
 sage, in which he examines and sets aside several expositions 
 of it. He states that it does not speak of the duty of the rege- 
 nerate (i. e, of what he ought to do), but of his purpose and 
 practice. That it does not speak of the regeneration of a future 
 life ; nor of any peculiar kind of sin, nor of sin, although com- 
 mitted being covered by charity or not imputed ; but of the 
 manner of sinning : " He does not sin in the same way as the 
 unregenerate." 
 
 1. Ante peccandum non peccat, quia non vult peccare. 
 
 2. Inter peccandum non peccat, quia non totus peccat : in 
 quantum renatus est non peccat. 
 
 3. In peccato, sive in peccati praxi non peccat, quia non dat 
 operam peccato. 
 
 4. Post peccatum non peccat, quia non in peccato cubat. 
 
 He sums up his explanation of the passage in the following 
 words : — 
 
 Vitam peccato immunem, quantum potest sibi proponit, nee 
 
XXVIU PREFACE. 
 
 commit sin ' ; he cannot sin ; i. e. " he is not guilty 
 of deliberate or habitual sin ;" " he does not give his 
 mind to sin, nor addict himself to the practice of it ; 
 he cannot be living in a habit of sin." He considers 
 these to be " qualifying expressions, clearly tampering 
 with the word of God, and lowering his teaching." 
 But, with all due respect for the feelings of reverence 
 for Scripture, which have led him to hazard this re- 
 mark, I cannot acknowledge the justice of the censure, 
 nor renounce the exposition which I have adopted. 
 It is agreed on all hands, that some quahfication or 
 limitation of the Apostle's language is necessary, 
 because Scripture teaches us that " there is no man 
 that sinneth not," and that " if we say that we have 
 no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in 
 us ;" and because we know by experience that the 
 best and holiest of God's children are not free from 
 failings and sins. We find, however, in every part 
 of Scripture a comparison or contrast drawn be- 
 tween the just and righteous, and the wicked ; which 
 amounts in fact to the same thing as the comparison 
 drawn by St. John in tliis and the foregoing verses ^ 
 between those who sin and those who sin not ; 
 between those who do righteousness and those who 
 
 peccato unquam sponte dat operam. Quod si quando prseter 
 animi propositum deliquerit, nee in peccatum totus proruit, nee 
 in eodem persistit, sed errore agnito, ad institutum niox pris- 
 tinum quam primiim quantumque potest revertitur. 
 
 ' ajidpTiav ov noiu, uv cwdTUi af-iaprai'tii'. 
 
 ^ 1 John iii. 6 — 8. 
 
PREFACE. XXIX 
 
 commit sin. But it was not the intention of the 
 inspired writers to describe God's children or saints 
 as 'perfectly righteous and sinless. They evidently 
 speak of the general tone of their conduct and con- 
 versation, of the bias of their minds, and of the 
 predominance of their religious feelings and habits. 
 It is with the same limitation that St. John teaches 
 us that " whosoever hath been born of God doth 
 not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him ; and 
 he cannot sin, because he hath been born of God ^" 
 And this limitation cannot, in my opinion, be ex- 
 pressed more correctly or more modestly, than by 
 saying, that the child of God " does not give his 
 mind to sin, or addict himself to the practice of it ;" 
 or, in other words, " is not guilty of deliberate or 
 habitual sin." I entirely agree with the view which 
 the Professor takes of the drift and purport of this 
 passage, which is an eloquent and impressive expan- 
 sion of the concise account of it given by Water- 
 land. But in what respect the limitation of its 
 sense, which he has taken from Augustin — that 
 " we cannot commit sin as far as, or inasmuch as 
 we are the sons of God" — is less liable than the 
 other to the charge of " tampering with God's word 
 and lowering its meaning," I am at a loss to dis- 
 cover. It appears to me that both these qualifica- 
 tions of St. John's expressions coincide in meaning, 
 
 ^ See Chapter V. of the following work, where these passages 
 are more fully explained. 
 
XXX PREFACE. 
 
 and that neither the one nor the other is justly 
 exposed to the censure of being a departure from 
 the rules of sober and reverential interpretation K 
 But I prefer the explanation of the f)assage which 
 I have given to that of the learned Professor, be- 
 cause it is more simple and intelligible, and more 
 in accordance with the ordinary language of holy 
 Scripture. 
 
 In my Preface to the First Edition, (the larger 
 part of which, being principally occupied with tojiics 
 and allusions of a temporary nature, I have not 
 thought it necessary to republish) I took notice of 
 certain objections to the doctrine of Baptismal Re- 
 generation, similar in some respects to those which 
 I have been now examining. I animadverted on 
 the extraordinary assertion of a respectable writer, 
 who had affirmed that in the opinion of those who 
 
 ^ In addition, however, to its being too subtle and far-fetched, 
 there is an objection to the qualification of these words adopted 
 by the Professor, arising out of the context. In this and the 
 foregoing verse, a contrast is drawn between those who are of 
 the devil and those who are born of God. He that committeth 
 sin is of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit 
 sin. But as it cannot be said that the one commits sin so far 
 as he is of the devil, so neither can it be said that the other does 
 not commit sin so far as he is born of God. Whereas, if both 
 passages are supposed to speak of the purpose, disposition, bias 
 of mind and habits, the limitation of the words seems to me to 
 be reasonable and natural, and liable to no just or solid objec- 
 tions. 
 
PREFACE. XXXI 
 
 maintain this doctrine \ " tbe change which takes 
 place in Baptism is the whole of that renovation 
 which the soul requires." 
 
 I stated likewise that no divine of the Church 
 of England has maintained that God's grace is so 
 limited to his ordinances, that it is impossible to 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven, and to inherit 
 eternal life without Baptism ; or that adults, bap- 
 tized in unbelief and impenitence, derive any imme- 
 diate benefit from this sacrament : and that they 
 who hold that Regeneration, strictly speaking, is 
 the inward and spiritual grace of Baptism, do not 
 identify it, as has been sometimes erroneously con- 
 tended, with repentance, conversion, the renewal 
 of the whole inward frame, an entire change of 
 mind, or a radical change in all the parts and facul- 
 ties of the soul. On these points, however, I shall 
 have occasion to speak more at large in the body 
 of the Treatise. In fact, the real questions in de- 
 bate are, whether according to the doctrine of Scrip- 
 ture and the Church of England ', Regeneration, in 
 the strict sense of the word, is or is not the inward 
 and spiritual grace of Baptism ? whether the word 
 
 ^ Letter to a Serious Inquirer after Divine Truth. By the 
 late Rev. Edward Cooper. 
 
 ' It should be recollected that in the discussions which led 
 the Author to undertake this work, the sense of the Church of 
 England on this subject was the chief matter of debate. 
 
XXXll PREFACE. 
 
 can properly be applied to any other change not 
 considered in conjunction with Baptism ? and what 
 is the nature of that change which the word Rege- 
 neration denotes ^ ? 
 
 In the work now submitted to the public, my 
 intention is to take a larger and more comprehen- 
 sive view of the doctrine of Regeneration in Bap- 
 tism, than has hitherto fallen in my way. After 
 premising some remarks on the obvious advantages 
 of adhering as much as possible to the strict and 
 determinate usage of words in theological contro- 
 versies and inquiries ^ I shall lay before my readers 
 a statement of the opinions of the ancient Christ- 
 ians on the subject of Regeneration ^ and of the 
 principles on which their usage of the word seems 
 to depend *. After this, I shall set forth the Scrip- 
 tural grounds on which this doctrine of Regeneration 
 is founded ^, and examine the Scriptural objections 
 
 ' It has been said, that the controversy on this subject does 
 not relate to the nature of the change, but to the time of the 
 occurrence. But in fact there can be no controversy on this 
 subject, where the nature of the change, denoted by the word 
 *' Regeneration," does not form one of the principal hinges of 
 the debate. For if the change signified by this Scriptural term 
 takes place in Baptism, it cannot be such a change as is con- 
 tended for by the opponents of this doctrine. If it is such a 
 radical and complete change of heart and soul as is included 
 in their definition of the word, it does not take place in Bap- 
 tism. 
 
 ' Chapter I. ^ Chapter II. * Chapter III. 
 
 * Chapter IV. 
 
PREFACE. XXXlll 
 
 which have been taken to it '. I shall then point 
 out the strict conformity between the views of the 
 ancient Christians and our own Church on this head 
 of doctrine ^ and shall notice the attempts which 
 have been made to extract a different opinion from 
 the public writings of our Church ^ Afterwards, 
 I shall inquire more at large into the theory of this 
 doctrine *, the principal variations which have been 
 made from it ^ and the theory which has been op- 
 posed to it with the greatest confidence '^. In con- 
 clusion, I shall make a few remarks upon the har- 
 mony of this doctrine with the drift and principles 
 of revealed religion, and its consistency with the 
 internal evidence and moral tendencies of the Christ- 
 ian dispensation \ 
 
 Laying no claim to novelty of opinion or argu- 
 ment, it will be needless to particularize the Au- 
 thors to whose writings I am indebted. But I 
 must acknowledge my obligations to the Archbishop 
 of Cashel (Dr. Laurence) who has investigated 
 the views of the compilers and the revisers of our 
 Liturgy, and the sources from "which our offices for 
 the Administration of Baptism are derived, in two 
 tracts in controversy with the late Mr. Scott of 
 Hull, replete with erudition, and written in the true 
 spirit of theological criticism. 
 
 ' Chapter V. ' Chapter VI. '' Chapter VII. 
 
 '^ Chapter VIII. = Chapter IX. « Chapters X. & XI. 
 
 ' Chapter XII. 
 
IXXXiv PREFACE. 
 
 The examination of the passage of St. John's first 
 Epistle, contained in the fifth Chapter of this work, 
 is the substance of a SeiTnon preached before the 
 University of Cambridge in March 1817. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction, containing some remarks on the Advantage of ad- 
 hering, as much as possible, to the strict Usage of Words in 
 Theological Controversies and Inquiries 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A View of the Doctrine of Regeneration maintained by the 
 Fathers and ancient Christians . 10 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 On what Principles the inward and spiritual Grace of Baptism, 
 and the Change of Condition which it implies, have been 
 called Regeneration 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 An Inquiry into the Scriptural Authority on which this Doctrine 
 pf Regeneration in Baptism is grounded 26 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Review of the principal Objections which have been taken to 
 this Doctrine from Passages of Scripture 59 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A View of the Doctrine of Regeneration taught by the Church of 
 England 77 
 
XXX VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 P\GE 
 
 A View of the Attempts which have been made to invalidate the 
 Line of Argument pursued in the last Chapter 92 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Theory of Regeneration in Baptism considered 11!) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 An Account of the principal Changes which have taken place m 
 the Doctrine of Regeneration, and in the Use of the Word . 134 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 An Examination of the Calvinistic Theory of Regeneration .169 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A Review of some Difficulties with which the Theory of Rege- 
 neration, examined in the preceding Chapter, is encumbered, 
 and of some Consequences which it involves 19!^ 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Conclusion — containing some Remarks on the Harmony of the 
 Doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism with the Drift and 
 Principles and Moral Evidences of revealed Religion . . . 214 
 
GENERAL V 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, CONTAINING SOME REMARKS ON THE 
 ADVANTAGE OF ADHERING, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, 
 TO THE STRICT USAGE OF WORDS IN THEOLOGICAL 
 CONTROVERSIES AND INQUIRIES. 
 
 It has been justly observed, that a vague and 
 inaccurate use of words often engenders rash 
 opinions \ and leads to mischievous consequences. 
 This is a truth to which the daily experience of 
 the world bears witness. The generality of man- 
 kind are swayed by words, and led away by popular 
 and current phrases, on the strength of which they 
 build their opinions, and attach themselves to their 
 respective parties, in questions, especially, of a poli- 
 
 * Locutiones incautas res sequuntur teinprarise. — Bishop Bull, 
 quoted from Grotius. 
 
 B 
 
2 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 tical or a religions character, without inquiring into 
 the meaning of the expressions which they repeat, 
 or having any just and adequate conception of 
 the ideas which they are intended to represent. 
 This fact shows the necessity of forming accurate 
 and clear notions of those words, which are the 
 hinges of opinions and actions ; of adhering as much 
 as possible to their strict sense in our different pro- 
 vinces of inquiry ; and of endeavouring to extricate 
 them from that capricious variety of meanings, to 
 which, from the nature of human language and 
 society, they are obviously liable. 
 
 In the stricter sciences, words easily obtain a 
 fixed and determinate sense ; and even in those 
 branches of natural philosophy, where the progress 
 of knowledge sometimes effects a change in the 
 vocabulary, they soon acquire a steady and settled 
 meaning, and few differences of opinion subsist 
 upon the right explication of the terms. But in 
 those parts of knowledge which have a direct 
 influence upon action, and are, more or less, every 
 man's business, they are subject to frequent changes 
 and modifications. In religion particularly, words 
 have ])assed, sometimes from a popular to a strict 
 and determinate, sometimes from a strict to a 
 popular and enlarged signification. New doctrines 
 have been grounded on figurative expressions, too 
 rigidly urged, and explained upon wrong principles. 
 Old doctrines have l)een well nigh exi)loded in 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATFON IN BAPTISM. 3 
 
 consequence of a popular turn whicli lias been 
 given to scriptural phrases ; and the earliest and 
 least suspicious interpretations of those passages of 
 holy writ, to which we appeal as authority, have 
 become in a manner antiquated, and are sometimes 
 condemned as rash innovations. 
 
 An instance or two will serve to illustrate these 
 positions. The word " law" is used in several 
 senses 'in the New Testament. Sometimes it 
 signifies the Pentateuch, sometimes the whole 
 volume of the Old Testament. Sometimes it is 
 used figuratively \ to express any thing which has 
 the force and obligation of a law : and occasionally 
 it seems to mean, in the way of argument and 
 illustration, a law indefinitely, or any particular 
 law. But with these exceptions it signifies the 
 law of Moses, either partially, or in the gross ; 
 either as limited to some particular portion of 
 the whole law — the decalogue, for instance, the 
 moral, or the ceremonial law — or as comprehending 
 all these divisions, and the whole complex body 
 of ordinances and enactments, commandments and 
 precepts. Hence it signifies that peculiar dispensa- 
 tion of religion, or code of moral and religious duty. 
 
 * Thus the Gospel is called the law of Christ, the law of faith, 
 the law of righteousness, in allusion to the old or legal dispensa- 
 tion. — See Romans vii. 21, 23. 25 ; viii. 2. 
 
 b2 
 
4 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 to which the Jews were subject before our Saviour's 
 Advent. In this sense St. Paul uses the word, when- 
 ever he compares the law with the Gospel, and 
 excludes it from the office of justification. 
 
 But when the heathens set up the plea of the 
 sufficiency of a religion or law of nature in opposi- 
 tion to the Gospel doctrine of salvation by grace 
 and justification by faith in Christ, St. Paul's 
 phraseology and arguments were readily turned 
 against them, in the way of analogy, and by parity 
 of reasoning. Thus the Mord " law " acquired in 
 popular usage the same abstract sense in which 
 it had been used long before by the philosophers, 
 and designated what is called the law of nature, 
 or that code of moral and religious duties, to which 
 man, independently of all positive laws or particular 
 revelations, is supposed to be subject. This sense 
 of the word was afterwards adopted in the literal 
 and gi-ammatical interpretation of St. Paul's epistles, 
 and led to a distinction between " the law and 
 the Gospel," which, though it might have been 
 useful as a popular distinction, if the analogical 
 reasoning on which it is grounded had been strictly 
 adhered to, is not scriptural, and has unfortunately 
 given occasion to erroneous and dangerous opinions. 
 What the Apostle says of the law of JNIoses, con- 
 sidered as an imperfect and preparatory dispensation 
 of religion, has been applied to this abstract notion 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 5 
 
 of the law of God, and of moral and religious 
 obligation. " The state of things," says Bishop 
 Taylor, " in which the whole world is represented 
 in their several periods, is by some made to be the 
 state of every returning sinner, and men are taught 
 that they must pass through the terrors of the law 
 before they can partake of the mercies of the Gospel. 
 The law was a school-master to bring the synagogue 
 to Christ ; it was so to them that were under the law, 
 but it cannot be so to us, who are not under the law, 
 but under grace '." 
 
 But this is not the worst. Others have applied 
 what St. Paul says of the total freedom of the 
 heathen converts from the yoke of the Mosaic 
 law, and the emancipation of believing Jews from 
 its obligations as a religious dispensation, to the 
 moral law, and believers in general; and have 
 maintained, with equal folly and impiety, that God's 
 elect are released from the obligations of the moral 
 law. But the world would not probably have heard of 
 these paradoxes of Antinomianism, if this analogical 
 sense of the word, law, had not almost superseded its 
 proper and original signification, and exerted an 
 undue influence upon many of St. Paul', com- 
 mentators and interpreters. 
 
 The other instance, which I shall adduce in 
 proof of my observations, is the word to which 
 
 * Taylor's Unum Necessarium, Polemical Works, p. 587- 
 Fol. Ed. 1674. 
 
6 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 my attention is now directed — I mean the word, 
 Regeneration. — No reasonable doubt can be enter- 
 tained that it was appropriated to that grace, 
 whatever may be its nature, which is bestowed on 
 us in the Sacrament of Baptism, (inchiding perhaps 
 occasionally, by a common figure of speech, its 
 proper and legitimate effects, considered in conjunc- 
 tion with it ;) from the beginnings of Christianity 
 to no very distant era of Ecclesiastical History. 
 In those few passages of the ancient Christian 
 writers \ where it bears another signification, it is 
 
 ' Thus Clemens Alexandrinus, speaking of the injunction in 
 the Law of Moses, that the adulteress should be stoned to death, 
 and comparing it with what our Saviour says on this subject, 
 Matt. V. 32 ; xix. 9. Mark x. 11, 12. Luke xvi. 18, undertakes 
 to reconcile the apparent contradiction between the Law and the 
 Gospel on allegorical principles. 
 
 Ov crj fJLa^ETai tw EyayytX/w o NofiOQ' (Tvi'CfSsL de avrtH, Ilw(j 
 yap ov-)(l, evoQ ovtoq afi(j)o~iv j^oprjyou rov Kvpiov ; 'H -yap tol ttoo- 
 vevcraaa ^rj jjitv rfj afxapTiq, (nriQavE Se tcuq evtoXoIq' r/ ^£ fxsra- 
 vniifTaaa, olov clvayevvrjdelaa Kara riju tTnarpocpriv tov jjiov, iraXiy- 
 yeveaiav tyti fw?7c' Ttdir)icviac yap rfjc Tropvijg rrjc; rraXaiac, e'lg 
 (3iov Ee TTupeXdovariQ ay6i(; rijc /caret t))v fXETavoiav yirofiivr)Q. — 
 Stromata, 1. ii. p. 507. Edit. Potter. 
 
 Here the words born again, and regeneration, {dvayevvr]duaa 
 and -KaXiyyevtala) are professedly used in an improper and 
 metaphorical sense ; for the adulteress is represented as being, 
 as it were {(nov), born again by her repentance and conversion; a 
 way of speaking never used when baptism, or its effects, are 
 called regeneration, because the word, though originally figu- 
 rative, acquired a proper and determinate sense, in ecclesiastical 
 laneuage. The distinction between the remission of sins by 
 regeneration in baptism, and by repentance and absolution 
 after baptism, pervades the canons and discipline of the Church, 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 7 
 
 evidently used in a figurative manner, to express 
 such a change as seemed to bear some analogy in 
 
 and the writings of the ancient Cliristians, See Bishop Pearson 
 on the Creed, Article X. p. 368. Fol. Edit. 1692, and the 
 authorities quoted by him. 
 
 So Eusebius, in the singular history which he gives us of 
 St. John's treatment of a young disciple, who had abandoned his 
 Christian profession, subsequently to baptism, and become head 
 of a band of robbers, says, Ou irpoTEpov aV»j\9£v, we ^acrt, Tvplv 
 avTov dTiOKa-ifJTr](7t rrj EKuXrjai^, hicovg fxeya icapaSeiyfia fiETavoiag 
 aXrjOivijc, teal jiiya yviopiofia rraXiyyeieaiac, rpoTraloy dvaara- 
 creo)c pXewoijivrjc. Here Eusebius, in his figurative style, calls 
 the young man's repentance and restoration to the Church a 
 great example of regeneration, and a trophy of a visible resurrec- 
 tion. The learned Valesius, therefore, translates the passage 
 iterates regeuerationis documentum. — Eusebii Eccl. Hist. 1. iii. 
 c. 23 *. 
 
 To the same purpose he says, a few lines above, of the young 
 man, Eira Tpijdwv kcXciE TriKpuig' irpoffeXdovra ce tov yipovra. 
 wspuXajBev, aiToXoyovfitvoc ratt,- olfiuyaig wg ycvvaro, ical roig 
 SaKpvffi paTTTi^ofxevog ek cavripov. So that he seems to call his 
 conversion a new birth, upon the same principle that he calls his 
 godly sorrow, manifested by groans and tears, a second baptism. 
 
 In another passage, speaking of the happy effects of the 
 patience of the ISIartyrs of Lyons on those Christians whose fears 
 had led them to renounce the faith, he says, 
 
 'Ef£"yt»'£7-o iroXXt] X^pa rrj Tvapdiro) fxi]rp\, ovc wg veicpovg Ist- 
 rpbJffE, TOVTOvg ^uJi'Tag d-iioXafxftavovat]' ci ekeivwv ydp o'l ttXeiovc 
 T(i)v ijpvrifiivMv dvEntrpovvTO (cat " dvEKviatcovro" Koi dvE^uynv- 
 povvTO. L. v. ch. i. 
 
 But passages of this kind are very rare, and so evidently 
 rhetorical, using the words in question in an improper and 
 metaphorical sense, that they do not at all invalidate the assertion 
 of learned divines, that the word " regeneration " is constantly 
 used by the ancient Christians to signify baptism and its 
 effects. 
 
 * Eusebius has copied this story from Clemens Alexandrinus. 
 
8 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 magnitude and importance to the change effected in 
 baptism. At the time of the Reformation, the word 
 ■«as commonly used in a more loose and popular 
 way, to signify sometimes justification, sometimes 
 conversion, or the turning from sinful courses, some- 
 times repentance, or that gradual change of heart 
 and life, which is likewise styled renovation. Hence 
 in popular language it came to signify a great and 
 general reformation of habits and character, and 
 the words " regenerate and unregenerate" were sub- 
 stituted for the words converted and unconverted, 
 renewed and unrenewed, righteous and wicked. 
 But in the hands of the systematic Calvinists, the 
 word passed from the popular to a strict and de- 
 terminate meaning ; and they pronounced regenera- 
 tion to be an infusion of a habit of grace, or a 
 radical change of all the parts and faculties of the 
 soul, taking place at the decisive moment of the 
 effectual call. From hence the transition to a 
 sensible chano^e was easv and natural, and what 
 was a theological speculation in the system of the 
 scholastic divines, became, in the hands of less sub- 
 dued and less calculating spirits, the stronghold of 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 If, therefore, the progress of enthusiastic opinions 
 and habits, and of other doctrines by no means 
 honourable to the divine perfections, is connected in 
 any degree with the changes which have taken place 
 in the received use of the word Regeneration, it will 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 9 
 
 not be an unprofitable task to examine the grounds 
 of its more ancient signification, and to point out 
 its correspondence with the scriptural phraseology 
 and doctrine. But though there is an obvious 
 connection between the right use of words and 
 sound doctrine, it is not the word, but the doctrine 
 implied in it, on which I would principally insist. 
 For it is almost needless to say that many of our 
 Divines, who maintain the doctrine of Regeneration 
 in Baptism in its most unadulterated sense, often 
 use the word regenerate, in compliance with popular 
 usage, to signify a man living habitually under the 
 influence of the Spirit of grace ; unregenerate, to 
 signify a man not living habitually under that in- 
 fluenced Still it is to be wished that they had 
 avoided this ambiguity of language, and had kept 
 close to the more ancient and more correct usage 
 of the word in question. 
 
 * In this sense Bishop Taylor uses the words regenerate, 
 regeneration, &c. He says, that " an unregenerate man may have 
 received the Spirit of God." That, " to have received the Spirit 
 of God is not the propriety of the regenerate, but to be led by 
 him, to be conducted by the Spirit in all our ways and counsels, 
 to obey his motions, to entertain his doctrine, to do his pleasure : 
 this is that which gives the distinction and denomination." 
 Unum Necessarium, Polemical Works, p. 787. 
 
10 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A VIEW OF THE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION MAIN- 
 TAINED BY THE FATHERS AND ANCIENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 When opinions, founded on current and acknow- 
 ledged interpretations of Scripture, have been re- 
 ceived without doubt or dispute from the earliest 
 times of Christianity to a comparatively late age, 
 the prejudices in their favour, and against the inno- 
 vations which have been made upon them in latter 
 days, are fair and legitimate. There seems indeed 
 to be some presumption in setting up our private 
 opinions and interpretations against the unanimous 
 testimony of the early Christians; and it is evidently 
 dangerous. For if we will not admit their unvary- 
 ing and uncontradicted testimony in proof of an 
 apostolical and scriptural doctrine, I know not how 
 we shall convince an unbeliever that they are suffi- 
 cient witnesses of the authenticity of sacred writ, 
 or of the authority of its canon. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 1 1 
 
 In modern times we have been taufflit that 
 Regeneration is a thing quite unconnected witli 
 baptism : that it may indeed take place in that 
 sacrament as well as at any other time, but that to 
 suppose it in any proper sense dependent on it, 
 is an unreasonable and unscriptural opinion. But, 
 previous to a more particular inquiry, these asser- 
 tions seem rather to prove that they, who speak in 
 this manner, have affixed improper notions to the 
 word, than that the ancient Christians universally 
 mistook the sense of Scripture, and gave in to an 
 opinion contrary to reason and piety. 
 
 It has been shown, beyond any reasonable doubt, 
 "that all the ancient Christians, not one man ex- 
 cepted, do take the word, Regeneration, to signify 
 baptism ; and all of them do understand that rule 
 of our Saviour, ' Except a man be born again of 
 water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven,' of baptism \" After what has 
 been written on this subject, it will be needless to 
 adduce passages of their works in proof of these 
 positions, which are legitimate deductions from 
 plain matters of fact, and a laborious investigation 
 of their MTitings. 
 
 Their doctrine has been stated with his usual 
 perspicuity and judgment by Waterland, in his 
 
 ' Wall on Infant Baptism, chap. x. 3. ch. vi. 1. The reader 
 may refer to this valuable work for the proofs of these positions 
 of the learned author. 
 
12 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 celebrated Sermon on Regeneration ; and his state- 
 ment is evidently grounded on a severe examination 
 of their works, and a judicious induction of parti- 
 culars. 
 
 He first teaches us, in conformity to the opinion 
 of the ancient Christians, that Regeneration is a 
 spiritual change wrought upon any person in the 
 right use of baptism, whereby he is translated from 
 his natural state in Adam to a spiritual state in 
 Christ. That every one must be born of water and 
 of the Spirit; not once of water, and once of the 
 Spirit, but once of the Spirit in and by water ; of 
 the Spirit primarily and effectively, of the water 
 secondarily and instrumentally. That the word 
 Regeneration is so appropriated to Baptism as to 
 exclude any other conversion or repentance, not 
 considered in conjunction with Baptism, from being 
 signified by that name. That in an active sense 
 it signifies our admission into a spiritual state in 
 Christ, in a passive sense our entrance into it ; and 
 that it carries with it the remission of sins, and a 
 covenant claim to everlasting happiness. 
 
 He then proceeds to lay down the distinction 
 between Regeneration and Renovation'. He states 
 
 * When we speak of renovation as distinguished from regenera- 
 tion, we mean the practical and progressive renewal of the in- 
 ward frame or moral habits, which is the usual sense of the word 
 in Scripture. But the change wrought in man by the Holy 
 Ghost in Baptism is likewise called renovation, or renewal. 
 Such at least appears to be the meaning of the word in Titus 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 13 
 
 that they are always distinct in theory, and often, 
 particularly in the case of infants, in fact and 
 
 iii. 5. where the washing of regeneration, and the renewal of the 
 Holy Ghost, seem to be parallel and equivalent phrases ; or, 
 perhaps, baptism is called the washing of regeneration and 
 renewal. 
 
 Hence in the writings of the ancient Christians, men are said 
 to be renewed as well as regenerated in Baptism. So Cyprian 
 de Habitu Virginum, p. 102. Omnes quidem qui ad divinum 
 munus et patrium Baptismi sanctificatione perveniunt, hominem 
 illic veterem gratia lavacri salutaris exponunt, et innovati Spiritu 
 Sancto a sordibus contagionis antiquae iterata nativitate pur- 
 gantur. 
 
 The distinction between this baptismal renewal, and that 
 gradual improvement of the inward frame which the word renewal 
 more commonly denotes, which is sufficiently apparent in this 
 quotation, has been stated by Augustin, lib. xiv. de Trin. c. 17. 
 Sane ista renovatio non momento uno fit, sicut momento fit uno 
 ilia renovatio in Baptismo, remissione omnium peccatorum. 
 Neque enim vel unum quantulumcunque remanet, quod non 
 remittatur. Sed quemadmodum aliud est carere febribus, aliud 
 ab infirmitate, quae febribus facta est, revalescere : itemque aliud 
 est infixum telum de corpore demere ; aliud vulnus quod eo fac- 
 tum est secunda curatione sanare : ita prima curatio est causam re- 
 movere languoris, quod per omnium peccatorum indulgentiam fit. 
 Secunda, ipsum levare languorem, quod fit paulatim proficiendo 
 in renovatione hujus imaginis. Quae duo monstrantur in Psalmo ; 
 ubi legitur, Qui propitius Jit omnibus iniquitatibus iuis, quod fit in 
 Baptismo. Deinde sequitur, Qui sanat omnes injirmitates tuas, 
 quod fit quotidianis accessibus, cum hsec imngo renovatur. De 
 qua re Apostolus apertissime locutus est, dicens, Etsi exterior 
 homo noster corrumpitur, sed interior renovatur de die in diem. 
 Renovatur autem in agnitione Dei, hoc est justitia et sanctitate 
 veritatis. 
 
 This distinction between renovation in Baptism, and the 
 renewal of the habits or inward frame, is the same as the 
 distinction stated in the text between regeneration and renova- 
 tion. 
 
14 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 reality. That regeneration is a change of the whole 
 spiritual state ; renovation a change of inward frame 
 or disposition, which in adults is rather a qualifica- 
 tion or capacity for regeneration than regeneration 
 itself. That in infants regeneration necessarily 
 takes place without renovation, but in adults reno- 
 vation exists (or at least ought to exist) before, in, 
 and after Baptism. 
 
 Regeneration, he proceeds, is the joint work of 
 the water and of the Spirit, or to speak more pro- 
 perly of the Spirit only; renovation is the joint 
 work of the Spirit and the man. 
 
 Regeneration comes only once, in or through 
 Baptism. Renovation exists before, in, and after 
 Baptism, and may be often repeated. Regenera- 
 tion, being a single act, can have no parts, and is 
 incapable of increase. Renovation is in its very 
 nature progressive. Regeneration, though suspended 
 as to its effects and benefits, cannot be totally lost 
 in the present life. Renovation may be ofteji re- 
 peated and totally lost. 
 
 Afterwards he illustrates this doctrine by applying 
 it to four separate cases. 
 
 1 . Grown persons coming to Baptism properly 
 qualified, receive at once the grace of Regeneration : 
 but, however well prepared, they are not regenerate 
 without Baptism. Afterwards renovation grows 
 more and more within them by the indwelling of 
 the Spirit. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 15 
 
 2. As to infants, their innocence and incapacity 
 are to them instead of repentance, which they do 
 not want, and of actual faith, which they cannot 
 have : and they are capable of being born again, 
 and adopted by God, because they bring no obstacle. 
 They stipulate, and the Holy Spirit translates them 
 out of a state of nature into a state of grace, 
 favour, and acceptance. In their case, regeneration 
 precedes, and renovation follows after, and they are 
 the temple of the Spirit, till they defile themselves 
 ^vith sin. 
 
 3. As to those who fall off after Regeneration, v^ 
 their covenant state abides, but without any saving 
 effect, because without present renovation : but this 
 saving effect may be repaired and recovered by 
 repentance. ^ 
 
 4. With respect to those who receive Baptism ''vS^ 
 in a state of hypocrisy or impenitency, though this 
 Sacrament can only increase their condemnation, 
 still pardon and grace are conditionally made over to \a 
 them, and the saving virtue of Regeneration, which 
 had been hitherto suspended, takes effect, when 
 they truly repent and unfeignedly believe the 
 Gospel. 
 
 This clear statement of the learned author, con- 
 tains an accurate representation of the grace con- 
 ferred, and the change which takes place, in Bap- 
 tism; aud this is what is meant by those Divines, 
 who maintain that Regeneration is in the strict ' 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
 V^ 
 
16 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 sense of the word, the inward and spiritual Grace 
 of Baptism. The identity, if I may so express 
 myself, of Baptism and Regeneration, is a doctrine 
 which manifestly pervades the writings of the 
 Fathers. It is moreover evident that they did not 
 imagine that Baptism produces any saving effect in 
 adults without faith and repentance, or, in other 
 M'ords, without some previous renewal of the inward 
 frame. Nor do they appear to have supposed any 
 positive or active renewal of the soul takes place in 
 infants. Hence it follows that they must have 
 maintained this distinction between regeneration 
 and renovation, or conversion, which in the present 
 day has been styled, by a strange fatality, a novel 
 contrivance. Sufficient proofs however of a positive 
 kind may be collected from their own writings, that 
 they maintained this distinction \ 
 
 ^ Sicut autem bono Catechiimeno Baptismus deest ad capes- 
 sendum regnum coelorum, sic malo baptizato vera conversio. 
 Qui enim dixit, Nisi quis renatus fueril ex aqua et Spiritu, noti 
 intrahit in regnum ccelorum : ipse etiam dixit, Nisi abundaverit 
 justitin vestra plusquam Scriharum et Pharisccorum, non intra- 
 bitis in regnum ccelorum. Nam ne secura esset justitia Cate- 
 chumeni dictum est, Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqtid et Spiritu, 
 non intrabit in regnum ccelorum. Rursus ne percepto baptismo 
 secura esset iniquitas baptizatorum, dictum est, Nisi abundaverit 
 justitia vestra plusquam Scribarum et Pharisceorum, non intrabitis 
 in regnum coelorum. Alterum sine altero pariim est ; utrumque 
 perficit illius possessionis haeredem. Augustin. de Baptismo, 
 contra Donatistas. L. iv. 21. 
 
 Sicut in Abraham praecessit fidei justitia, et accessit circuni- 
 cisio, signaculum justitiae fidei, ita in Cornelio praecessit sanctifi- 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 17 
 
 The cases of adults properly qualified, and of 
 those who fall off after Baptism, are in strict 
 conformity to the doctrine and discipline of 
 the ancient Churches. Even Augustin, who 
 first introduced into the Church the doctrine 
 of absolute predestination, did not assert the 
 indefectibility of true grace, nor attempt to con- 
 fine the grace of regeneration to those who, in 
 his system, are called according to God's pur- 
 
 catio spiritalis in dono Spiritus Sancti, et accessit sacramentum 
 regenerationis in lavacro baptismi. Et sicut in Isaac, qui octavo 
 nativitatis suae die circunicisus est, praecessit signaculum justitiae 
 fidei, et, quoniam patris fidem imitatus est, secuta est in crescente 
 ipsa justitia, cujus signaculum in infanti praecesserat ; ita et in 
 baptizatis infantibus praecedit regenerationis sacramentum, et, si 
 Christianam tenuerint pietatem, sequitur etian: in corde con- 
 versio, cujus mysterium praecessit in corpore. Q.uibus rebus 
 omnibus apparet aliud esse sacramentum Baptismi, aliud con- 
 versionem cordis, sed salutem hominum ex utroque compleri. 
 De Baptismo contra Donatistas. L. iv. c. xxiv. 
 
 In the latter quotation the word mysterium does not signify 
 a sacrament, or sacramental sign, in the stricter sense of the 
 word, but merely a moral sign — a sign of the duty to which 
 Baptism obliges us. It is well known that the word sacramen- 
 tum or mysterium was used by the ancients in a very different 
 latitude from that which it has obtained in modern days — A71 
 outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given 
 unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive 
 the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. What Augustin 
 teaches us in this passage, is, 1. That adults, though converted, 
 are not regenerate without Baptism. 2. That baptized in- 
 fants, though regenerate, are not converted or changed in 
 heart. 
 
 C 
 
18 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 pose, and endowed with the special gift of per- 
 severance. 
 
 The Regeneration of all baptized Infants, with- 
 out exception, is a doctrine likewise every where 
 avowed by the Fathers, and established by the 
 canons and discipline of the Church. In Augus- 
 tin's controversy with the Pelagians, who denied 
 the doctrine of original sin, it is assumed as a point 
 universally acknowledged, and forms one of the 
 bases of his argument. 
 
 The case of those persons who are l^aptized in 
 hypocrisy or impenitence, is stated in full confor- 
 mity to ancient opinion. In Aiigustin's contro- 
 versy with the Donatists, he assumes this case as 
 a medium of proof\ and, of course, as an acknow- 
 
 ' Quomodo accipienti non prodest baptismus ei qui seculo 
 verbis non factis renuntiat, sic non prodest ei qui in schismate 
 vel in haeresi baptizatur ; utrique autem correcto prodesse 
 incipit quod ante non proderat, sed tamen inerat. Contra Don. 
 de Bapt. 1. iv. c. iv. 
 
 Etiam Simonem Magum per baptismum ipsa pepererat : 
 cui tamen dictum est quod non haberet partem in hajreditate 
 Christi. Nunquid ei baptismus, nunquid evangelium, nunquid 
 sacramenta defuerunt ? Sed quia charitas defuit, frustra natus 
 est, et ei expediebat fortasse non nasci. Contra Don. 1. i. 
 c. viii. 
 
 Aliud est enim, Omnis qui intrabit in regnum ccelorum, prius 
 nascitur ex aqua et Spiritu, quod Dominus dixit et verum est. 
 Aliud autem, Omnis qui nascitur ex aqua et Spiritu intrabit in 
 regnum ccelorum, quod utique falsum est. Nam et Simon ille 
 Magus natus est ex aqua et Spiritu, et tamen non intravit in 
 regnum ccelorum. Contra Don. 1. iv. c. xii. 
 
 Talis 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 19 
 
 ledged doctrine. The Donatists held, agreeably to 
 Cyprian's opinion, that the Baptism of schismatics 
 is invalid ; and since they contended that, with the 
 exception of their own Churches, all the Christians 
 of their days were in a state of schism, they affirmed 
 that none but themselves were validly baptized, and 
 that none could enter into the kingdom of God 
 without receiving Baptism from their Ministers. 
 But Augustin replied that, even allowing the truth 
 of their accusation, they who are baptized in schism 
 are in the same situation with those, who are bap- 
 tized in impenitence or hypocrisy. For as the latter 
 participate in the saving effects of regeneration, 
 when they repent of their sins, and believe the 
 Gospel with sincerity, so the former enjoy the 
 benefits of their Baptism, whenever they renounce 
 their schism, and are received into the communion 
 of the Church. 
 
 Having given this statement of the doctrine of 
 
 Talis baptismus, cum eo male utuntur, necat, sicut illis fie 
 quibus ait Apostolus — Bonus odor Christi erat in mortem. Contra 
 Don. 1. vi. c. xl. 
 
 Quod ante datum est tunc incipit valere ad salutem, cum ilia 
 fictio veraci confessione recesserit. 
 
 Neque nos dicimus quod ubicunque et quomodoeunque bap- 
 tizati gratiam Baptism! consequuntur, si gratia baptismi in ipsa 
 salute intelligitur, quae per celebrationem Sacramenti confertur ; 
 sed banc salutem niulti rec intus consequuntur, quamvis Sacra- 
 mentum, quod per se sanctum est, eos habere manifestum est. 
 Contra Don. 1. iv. c. xiv. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 the ancient Christians, my next step Mill be to 
 inquire on what grounds the change of which we 
 are speaking appears to have been denominated Re- 
 generation. 
 
 o 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON WHAT PRINCIPLES THE INWARD AND SPIRITUAL 
 GRACE OF BAPTISM, AND THE CHANGE OF CON- 
 DITION WHICH IT IMPLIES, HAVE BEEN CALLED 
 REGENERATION. 
 
 Some divines have supposed that the word Regene- 
 ration, and certain phrases of the Old Testament, 
 which denote the spiritual renewal and improve- 
 ment of the inward frame, are equivalent and syno- 
 nymous expressions. When, for instance, David 
 prays to God to create in him a new heart, and to 
 renew a 7'ight spirit ivithin him^, they suppose that 
 he is praying for the grace of regeneration ; when 
 God calls upon the Israelites to make them a new 
 heart and a new spirit"^, or promises that he will put 
 a new spirit within them^ and make them a heart of 
 
 ' Psalm li. 10. * Ezekiel xviii. 31. 
 
22 A GENERA.L VIEW OF THE 
 
 flesh\ these phrases are in their opinion equivalent 
 to the words New Birth, or beins: born ajrain. It is 
 evident, that so far as regeneration implies repen- 
 tance and the renewal of the inner man, so far it 
 implies the creation of a new heart, a new spirit, 
 and a heart of flesh. But this renewal of the heart 
 and spirit is described in these texts, compared with 
 one another, as the joint work of God, or the Holy 
 Ghost, and of man himself: as a gift or blessing 
 bestowed on us by God, and as a duty which we 
 owe to him and ourselves. On the other hand. 
 Regeneration, though it requires certain previous 
 qualifications in those who are capable of possessing 
 them, is entirely the work of Christ and the Holy 
 Spirit : a change in which the principle of self-action 
 implanted in man bears no part. 
 
 In truth, there is no more than an apparent paral- 
 lelism between these expressions. For those phrases, 
 according to the customary usage of the sacred 
 language, imply nothing more than a great change 
 for the better, the reformation and improvement of 
 the religious principles and behaviour. Whereas 
 to he born again is a metaphor founded on a com- 
 parison of a different kind, and, on the common 
 principles of figurative language, leads to the notion 
 of a distinct change of condition ; a passage, if I 
 may so express myself, from one state of existence 
 
 ' Ezekiel xi. 19. — xxxvi, 26, 27. Jer. xxxii. 39. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 23 
 
 to another. This is the sense in which the Fathers 
 understood it : and accordingly they speak of three 
 births incident to Christians : the Natural Birth, the 
 New Birth of Baptism, and the Regeneration of the 
 Body in the last day. 
 
 In addition to the argument deduced from the 
 etymology of the word, and the natural force of 
 the metaphor, every research which has been made 
 into the history of this expression, confirms the 
 sense which the Catholic Christians affixed to it ; 
 and the illustrations which this sense has received 
 are derived from the most unsuspected sources'. In 
 
 ' Non solum Judaeis sed gentibus etiam solenne fait, sacrorum 
 initiationem regenerationis vocabulo significare. Apuleius Met. 
 XI. " Nam et inferum claustra, et salutis tutela in Dese manu 
 posita ; ipsaque traditio ad instar voluntarice mortis, et precaruB 
 salutis celebratur. Quippe cum transactis vitae temporibus jam 
 in ipso finitas lucis limine constitutos, quis tamen tuto possent 
 magna religionis committi silentia, numen Deae solet eligere, et 
 sua providentia renatos ad nova reponere rursus salutis cur- 
 ricula." 
 
 Apuleius diem initiationis natalem sacrum vocat, et Sacerdo- 
 tera, a quo fuerat initiatus, appellat patrem suum — " Stipatum 
 me religiosa cohorte deducit ad proximas balneas, et prius sueto 
 lavacro traditum, prasfatus Deum veniam, purissime circum- 
 rorans abluit." Justinianus Novell. 73. " Si quis manumittens 
 servum aut ancillam suam cives denuntiaverit Romanos, sciat ex 
 hac lege, quod qui libertatem acceperit, e^ei irapeTrofievov evdvs 
 Koi TO rwv j(^c)V(TWV EaKTv\iu)y, Kal to -T/e 7ra\tyy£V£ff/ac Eiicaiov. 
 Servus manumissus natalibus restituitur, in quibus initio omnes 
 homines fuerunt. Ergo ex jure Romano adoptionis et regene- 
 rationis voces interpretandae sunt. Wetstein in John iii. 3. 
 
 All these usages of the word itself, or of equivalent phrases, 
 
24 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 the writinsrs of Paorans the word has been used to 
 signify the act of initiation into their mysteries, 
 when the votary, after much previous discipline and 
 preparation, was supposed to pass into a new state 
 of religious being, and to contract a new relation to 
 the Deity. In the Roman law, the same phrase was 
 applied to the manumission of a slave, his passage, 
 that is, from a servile to a free condition. And 
 there is little reason to doubt that the same figure 
 of speech was applied by the Jewish doctors to the 
 initiation of their proselytes into their law and reli- 
 gious polity. It is well ascertained that Baptism 
 formed a part of this act of religion : and it ajj^^ears 
 both' from the conduct of John, and from^ the 
 questions which were put to him by the Pharisees, 
 that Baptism was understood to be a sign of initia- 
 tion, and a token of entrance into a new state of 
 life, and new professions and engagements of a re- 
 ligious nature. Our Saviour therefore seems to 
 have adopted the same mode of speaking in his con- 
 versation with the learned Jew, Nicodemus; inti- 
 mating to him that if he wished to enter into the 
 
 serve to illustrate the meaning of the word Regeneration. In 
 60 (says the learned Dodwell) versatur universa fere Novi Testa- 
 menti argumentatio, ut qusecunque essent sive apud Judaeos, 
 sive apud Gentiles, privilegia de quibus gloriarentur, ea Christi- 
 anis potiori praestantiorique ratione convenire probarentur. Diss. 
 Cyp. 13. 
 
 ' Matt. iii. Mark i. Luke iii. John i. 
 
 ^ John i. 19, &c. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 20 
 
 kingdom of God, it was no less necessary for him to 
 become his proselyte, to be initiated into the privi- 
 leges and undertake the engagements of his religion, 
 than it was for the Gentile to be initiated into the 
 privileges and undertake the engagements of the 
 Mosaic law, if he wished to partake of the civil and 
 religious advantages of the Jewish polity K 
 
 Hence, though in all these cases the New Birth 
 implies a change of inward dispositions and habits, 
 both as a qualification for it in capable subjects, and 
 as a duty to which it binds the regenerated person, 
 the change itself is distinct in theory from that 
 change of habits and manners. But this distinction, 
 to which the etymology of the word, the nature of 
 the metaphor, and the history of the expression 
 obviously conduct us, explaining and confirming that 
 interpretation which was put upon it by the ancient 
 Christians, will be rendered more apparent, when we 
 institute an inquiry into those passages of Scripture 
 which allude to this question, and lead us to conclude 
 that such a change as we denominate Regeneration 
 does actually take place in Baptism. 
 
 ' Baptism may be likewise styled Regeneration, or a Xew 
 Birth, in a moral sense, because it is that point from whence we 
 contract a solemn engagement to lead new or holy lives, and 
 become new men by promise and profession. 
 
26 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 
 AN INQUIRY INTO THE SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY ON 
 WHICH THIS DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN 
 BAPTISM IS GROUNDED. 
 
 Having stated the reasons which appear to justify 
 the appropriation of this word Regeneration to 
 Baptism, I proceed to inquire into the Scriptural 
 authority on which the doctrine, expressed by this 
 term and other words of the same family, is 
 grounded. I entertain no doubt that the ancient 
 Christians understood these words in their proper 
 signification, and departed neither from accurate 
 phraseology, nor sound doctrine, when they used 
 them in this limited and appropriate sense, to signify 
 that sacramental and initiatory change which is 
 described in the New Testament under a con- 
 siderable variety of phrases. But the main point 
 to be proved is, that such a change as they usually 
 designate by the word Regeneration, a mysterious 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 27 
 
 change of religious condition and spiritual relation- 
 ship to God, does actually take j)lace in Baptism, 
 and is described in divers passages of Scripture, both 
 by the words under discussion, and by other phrases 
 and figures of a similar import. 
 
 In order to present the reader with a clearer view 
 of the passages which bear upon this question, I 
 shall range them under the following heads : — 
 
 I. Those which speak of this change by the name 
 of Regeneration, and connect it with water and 
 Baptism. 
 
 II. Those which speak of it in parallel and cor- 
 responding expressions, with an evident allusion to 
 the same ceremony. 
 
 III. Those which attribute it simply to washing 
 and Baptism. 
 
 IV. Those which describe this change in other 
 figures and phrases, not exactly parallel to those 
 contained in the former classes. 
 
 I. There are only two passages of Scripture in 
 which Regeneration and Baptism are expressly com- 
 bined and identified with each other. The one 
 occurs in our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus 
 recorded in St. John's Gospel : Except a man be 
 born again, or, as the phrase is explained, bor7i of 
 water and of the Spirit, he cannot see, or enter into the 
 kingdom of God \ The other in St. Paul's Epistle 
 
 * John iii. 3. 5. 
 
28 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 to Titus, where the Apostle asserts that God liath 
 saved us hy the was/iing (rather perhaps the bath or 
 laver) of regeneration '. The ancient Christians, while 
 they ground the necessity of Baptism as a mean or 
 instrument of spiritual Regeneration principally on 
 the former text, uniformly apply the latter to the 
 same sacrament. Nor do they appear to have 
 entertained any suspicion that these passages are 
 ambiguous, or that they could admit of any other 
 than the received and current interpretation. 
 
 I have already shown what sense was com- 
 monly affixed to the word Regeneration and other 
 kindred words in our Saviour's days : that they 
 signified both among Jews and Gentiles a change of 
 religious, or, in some cases, of civil condition and 
 privileges : and that this change was usually symbo- 
 lized by an outward action, sometimes by this very 
 ceremony of washing or Baptism. It may be asked 
 then, whether it was our Lord's intention to perplex 
 and bewilder, or to instruct and edify, Nicodemus ? 
 to shadow out to him in enigmatical language a 
 change of which he could have no just conception ? 
 or to converse with him on his own principles, and 
 in conformity to a mode of thinking and speaking to 
 which he was habituated ? If we adopt the old in- 
 terpretation of this passage, the conversation seems 
 to be suited to the person and character of Nico- 
 
 ' Tiius iii. 5. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 29 
 
 demiis, and conformable to the general tone of our 
 Lord's instructions. For though it is, like many of 
 his discourses, figurative and parabolical, it alludes 
 to a well-known custom and a received opinion, and 
 makes use of a phraseology which was familiar to 
 the learned, and probably well understood by the 
 generality of his countrymen. 
 
 On the same grounds there can be no reasonable 
 doubt that the washing of Regeneration, mentioned 
 by St. Paul, signifies Baptism, or baptismal Regene- 
 ration. For since Regeneration signified both with 
 Jews and Gentiles a mystical and symbolical en- 
 trance into a new state of hfe, St. Paul, when he 
 speaks of the washing of regeneration, as a mean or 
 instrument of salvation, does not, in all probability, 
 deviate from this usage of the word. Indeed, this 
 sense of it is amply confirmed by a comparison of 
 these passages with what our Saviour says in his last 
 commission to his Apostles. He that believeth and is 
 baptized shall be saved '. For as it is evident that to 
 be borii again, or born of water and of the Spirit, 
 signifies the same thing as to be saved by the washing 
 of regeneration, so there can be no reasonable doubt 
 that to be saved by the washing of regeneration is 
 equivalent to being saved by Baptism ^ and conse- 
 quently that to be saved by Baptism, and to be boim 
 agai?i, or bom of water and of the Spirit, are one and 
 the same thing. 
 
 ' Mark xvi. 16. ' Compare 1 Pet. iii. 21. 
 
30 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 ]\Iuch stress indeed has been laid ujjon a notion, 
 that in the passage of St. John's Gospel Regeneration 
 is spoken of as absolutely necessary to sah^ation, in 
 such a sense, that without it no individual of man- 
 kind can possibly enter into the kingdom of heaven : 
 whereas Baptism is necessary only in a restricted 
 sense, being, as our Church teaches us, " necessary 
 to salvation where it can be had." This distinction 
 is principally built upon an opinion which some 
 commentators have entertained, that the mention 
 of Baptism was designedly omitted ' in the latter 
 clause of our Lord's speech, to show that it is neces- 
 sary only in this qualified sense. The truth is, that 
 the mention of Baptism in this clause would have 
 been quite superfluous ; for our Saviour speaks of 
 Baptism as a consequence of belief, and if the men 
 to whom the Apostles were sent rejected the 
 Gospel, it was needless to say a syllable about their 
 Baptism. In fact this passage is qualified, not by 
 the omission of a few superfluous words, but by na- 
 tural equity, and the proportion which the several 
 parts of religion bear to each other. The same 
 principles apply with equal force to our Saviour's 
 address to Nicodemus '. It condemns the wilful and 
 
 ' He that helievelh not, shall be davined. 
 
 ^ This is the very construction which our Church puts on the 
 passage in the Office of Baptism for those of riper years : — 
 
 " Beloved, ye hear in this Gospel the express words of our 
 Saviour, Christ, that, Except a man, Slc. Whereby ye perceive 
 the great necessity of this Sacrament, where it may be had." 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 31 
 
 culpable omission of Baptism, but cannot (so at least 
 charity bids us presume) apply to cases where it is 
 not to be had ; where it is impeded by accident, or 
 prevented by an unfortunate concurrence of circum- 
 stances. 
 
 It has been affirmed that to he horn of water and 
 of the Spirit, signifies to be born again of the Spirit ', 
 acting like water, and cleansing and purifying the 
 heart. But this explanation is evidently forced and 
 unnatural, and inconsistent with grammatical ana- 
 logy, and the common rules of construction. It is 
 true that two words in this construction may be 
 conceived to express one thing. For instance, life 
 and hreath may signify the breath of life ; grace aiid 
 apostleship, the apostolical grace, the grace or gift 
 of the apostleship. In passages like these, where 
 
 ' Per aquam et Spintum : quasi diceret, per Spiritum qui pur- 
 gando et irrigando fideles aniraas vice aquae fungitur. Aquam 
 ergo et Spiritum accipio simpliciter pro Spiritu qui aqua est — 
 renasci aqua et Spiritu nihil aliud est, quam vim illam Spiritiis 
 recipere, quae in anima id facit, quod aqua in corpore. Calvin. 
 Inst. 1. iv. c. xvi. § 25. 
 
 Ex veteribus nonnuUos citare licet, qui ilia verba metaphorice 
 accipiunt. Antidotus ad Cone. Trid. Opuscula, p. 298. 
 
 This is an assertion which neither Calvin nor any of those who 
 have copied from him, have ever verified. Hooker, who does 
 not speak at random, positively denies it. " Of all the ancients, 
 there is not one to be named that ever did otherwise expound or 
 allege the place, than of external baptism." B. v. S. 58. Vol. 
 ii. p. 244. Oxford Ed. 
 
 Grotius has followed Calvin's interpretation, and it is gene- 
 rally adopted by the Arminian Divines. Limborch Theol. 
 Chris. 1. V. c. Ixvi. § 25. 
 
32 A GENERAL VIEW OF THK 
 
 one of the nouns substantive, connected by a eon- 
 junction copulative, assumes the force of an adjec- 
 tive, or, what is equivalent, of the genitive or posses- 
 sive case, the words, nevertheless, in their plain 
 grammatical construction, admit of a clear and con- 
 sistent meaning. But the attempt to fetch out such 
 an interpretation by giving to the word, iuatei\ a 
 highly metapliorical and uncommon sense, is sanc- 
 tioned by no usage and no examples. 
 
 With as little reason it has been urged, that the 
 passage of the Epistle to Titus has no reference, 
 or at the utmost only an allusion to Baptism ^ but 
 
 1 Limborch Theol. Chris. 1. v. ch. Ixvi. § 26. 
 
 It is contended either that this passage merely alludes to bap- 
 tism, or that regeneration is called a washing by a metonymy of 
 the sign for the thing signified. I confess I do not understand 
 how the sign can be used for the thing signified, when both the 
 sign and thing signified are mentioned in the same clause, in 
 their natural relation to each other. But at all events, since we 
 are taught that he that heUeveth and is baptized shall be saved, 
 and that God hath saved us by the washing of regeneration, we 
 do not act very consistently, when we interpret the baptism of 
 which our Saviour speaks in a literal, the washing or laver, which 
 St. Paul mentions, in a metonymical sense. 
 
 At other times it is affirmed that washing is only a metaphor, 
 and that regeneration is called a washing in the same manner 
 that Christ is called a vine, and Jehovah a shield. Certainly if 
 it were as unreasonable to suppose that washing in this text can 
 mean washing or baptism, in a literal sense, as to suppose that 
 Christ is literally a vine, or God literally a shield, we should be 
 compelled to explain the word in a figurative manner. Or, even 
 if we had good ground for supposing that regeneration is in no 
 way connected with Baptism, we might perhaps have conjectured 
 that the washing of regeneration signified the cleansing or puri- 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 33 
 
 speaks solely of that internal Regeneration which 
 purifies the soul, in the same manner that water 
 cleanses and purifies the body. Our old teachers, 
 I am persuaded, saw more deeply into this subject, 
 and judged more truly of the meaning of these pas- 
 sages, than our modern masters. " When the letter 
 of the Law," says Hooker, " hath two things jjlainly 
 and expressly specified. Water and the Spirit — 
 Water as a duty required on our parts, the Sj)irit as 
 a gift which God bestoweth — there is danger in pre- 
 suming so to interpret it, as if the clause that con- 
 cerneth ourselves were more than needful'." 
 
 II. But though these passages, the former espe- 
 cially, were on account of the distinct and unambi- 
 guous manner in which they are worded, alleged by 
 the ancient Christians as the main grounds and 
 principles of the doctrine of baptismal Regeneration, 
 it is amply confirmed by other texts, and by conti- 
 nual allusions to it, as a thing well known and 
 thoroughly understood. For undesigned and inci- 
 dental testimonies, which do not come down to us 
 in the shape of precepts or dogmatical determina- 
 tions, but of appeals to the converts, and allusions to 
 
 fying effect of regeneration. But since Scripture affirms that 
 he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and that Baptism 
 saveth us, we should offend against the rules of just interpretation 
 by affixing a metaphorical sense to this expression. For, as 
 Hooker says, " where a literal interpretation will stand, the far- 
 thest from the letter is always the worst." 
 ' Hooker's Eccl. Polity, B. v. ch. lix. 
 
34 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 received opinions, are a strong confirmation of the 
 truth and general reception of the opinions to which 
 they allude. In fact this doctrine is alluded to in 
 many of St. Paul's Epistles : it is plainly asserted by 
 St. Peter : and what St. John says in his Epistles, 
 though he views the question in another aspect, is, 
 as I shall attempt to show in the following chapter, 
 perfectly consistent with it. ]\Iy present business, 
 however, is to examine those passages of Scripture, 
 which speak of the change which we denominate 
 Regeneration in parallel and corresponding expres- 
 sions. 
 
 Regeneration is spoken of in the writings of Theo- 
 logians either in a larger or a more confined sense. 
 In the works of the ancient Christians it is com- 
 monly equivalent to the whole Sacrament of Bap- 
 tism, including the inward grace and the outward 
 action. Sometimes it signifies the inward grace in 
 its most comprehensive sense ; sometimes that 
 part of it only which consists of a principle of new 
 life. Our Church uses it in this latter sense, when 
 it defines the inward and spiritual grace of Baptism 
 to be a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteous- 
 ness^ ; that is, the forgiveness of sin^, the ceasing to 
 
 ' Church Catechism. 
 
 ^ The forgiveness of sin — of original sin, and of all actual sins 
 committed before baptism — is what the ancients principally in- 
 sist upon, when they speak of regeneration in baptism. 
 
 " This death and new birth is neither the resolving to forsake 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 35 
 
 be sinners, in the divine construction, coupled with 
 an undertaking, on our part, to mortify continually 
 our corrupt affections, and the grant and earnest of 
 the Holy Ghost, as a principle of spiritual life. But 
 the death to sin and the new birth to righteousness 
 are inseparable, and naturally imply each other, and 
 therefore when the one is mentioned, the other is 
 necessarily understood. 
 
 This distinction of our Catechism is founded on 
 the writings of St. Paul, M'ho, in allusion to the 
 
 sin and live godly ; for this is supposed before baptism, to make 
 the person capable of it : nor the actual forsaking of sin, and 
 living a nevt^ life ; for that is the consequent task of him that 
 makes a right use of the grace of baptism for his whole life after, 
 and both these an act of the man, wrought the one by the pre- 
 venting, the other by the assisting grace of God. But this grace 
 of baptism is the strength of Christ, of supernatural ability to 
 forsake sin and live godly, and proportionally a tender of God's 
 pardon and gracious acceptance, pardon of forsaken sins, and 
 acceptance of imperfect, so it be sincere godliness. And that 
 this is the intention of the Catechism may appear by what fol- 
 lows as the reason of it ; for being by nature born in sin and the 
 children of wrath, (i.e. born with strong inclinations and pro- 
 pensions to sin, which would certainly engage us in a course of 
 sin, so consequently makes us worthy of wrath,) rve are herebij 
 made children of grace : i. e. have in baptism that strength 
 given us by Christ that will enable us to get out of that servile 
 and dangerous state." Hammond's Practical Catechism. Works, 
 Fol. Vol. i. p. 115. 
 
 This is a true explanation of this passage of our Catechism, 
 but it does not seem to me to contain the whole truth. For to 
 be horn in sin, &c. signifies to be born in a real state of sin and 
 condemnation, and on the other hand, a death to sin includes the 
 forgiveness of original and actual sin in baptism. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 sacramental action, describes our Regeneration in 
 Baptism sometimes as a sort of mysterious death 
 and burial, sometimes as a mysterious resurrection. 
 
 What shall ive say then f shall ive continue in sin., that 
 grace may abound f God forhid. How shall we who 
 are dead to si% whose sins have been forgiven us 
 upon the express condition that we will mortify 
 our own sinful lusts, live any longer therein f Know 
 ye not that as many of you as were baptized into 
 Christ, were baptized into his death? into the like- 
 ness of his death, and the participation of its 
 benefits. Therefore we were 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 
 shoidd walk in newness of life^. This passage con- 
 tains a plain allusion to the doctrine of Regenera- 
 tion in Baptism, and we may infer from it the 
 knowledge and belief of that doctrine in the Roman 
 Church, its general reception, and its conformity to 
 the Apostle's teaching. But though St. Paul here 
 speaks only of the death to sin under these figura- 
 tive expressions, they necessarily imply and include 
 the new birth to righteousness, because newness of 
 life is declared to be the legitimate and intended 
 effect of this mystical death and burial, and the 
 duty to which they bind and engage us. 
 
 In the Epistle to the Ephesians the same myste- 
 
 ' Rom. vi. 1 — 4. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 37 
 
 rious change, and consignation of blessings, are 
 described under the figure of a resurrection, and 
 the Apostle makes use of the same familiar allusion 
 to the sacramental action. When you were dead in 
 sins, he quickened you together with Christy and raised 
 you up together with him, and seated you together with 
 him in heavenly places\ But as in the passage just 
 quoted the death to sin implies the new birth to 
 righteousness, so here the resurrection with Christ, 
 or, in other words, the new birth to righteousness, 
 includes the forgiveness of sin. 
 
 In the Epistle to the Colossians the same figures 
 are used with the same allusion. If ye then be risen 
 with Christ, seek those things which are above, where 
 Christ sitteth at the right hand of God : for ye are 
 dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God^. In 
 passages of this kind where a supposition is urged 
 as a motive to duty, the hypothetical particle im- 
 plies no doubt, but carries with it a strong aflfirma- 
 tion. " Since you have received in Baptism the 
 forgiveness of your sins and regeneration to life, 
 remember your solemn obligations to lead a new 
 life, to mortify your members which are upon the 
 earth, and to seek those things which are above." 
 
 Ye are buried with Christ in Baptism, wherein also 
 ye are risen with him through faith in the operation of 
 God, who hath raised him from the dead^. 
 
 ' Eph. ii. 5, 6. - Col. iii. 1. ' Col. ii. 12. 
 
38 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 When the Apostle addresses the converts as men 
 who had put on Christ, this expression likewise 
 describes a mystical conformity to Christ, and al- 
 ludes to their Regeneration in Baptism. For this 
 phrase refers to a past, and, as it appears, a distinct 
 and definite transaction, and not only reminds them 
 of their own promises and professions, because the 
 privileges and obligations of the Christian Cove- 
 nant are correlatives, and mutually imply each 
 other, but of a determinate change of spiritual 
 and religious existence. What this change is, and 
 when effected, we may learn from St. Paul's words 
 to the Galatians. Ye are all the children of God 
 throuijh faith in Jesus Christ ; fo7' as many of you as 
 have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ^ — 
 have been made one with him and grafted into his 
 mystical body, and consequently have been regene- 
 rated or made children of God through faith in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 But it must be observed that Baptism is a symbo- 
 lical action, and that it not only symbolizes the 
 mysterious change wrought in us in the Sacrament, 
 which is its inward and spiritual grace, but the 
 moral and practical change to which it binds us*. 
 Hence, the same class of figurative expressions, 
 
 ' Gal. iii. 26, 27. 
 
 - Quae symbola in pactis solennibus usurpantur, ea non sig- 
 nificandi duntaxat, sed et obligandi etiani gratia sunt instituta. 
 Dodwell Diss. Cypri;in. p. IH. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 39 
 
 which denote the mystical, frequently denote the 
 practical change likewise. Thus we die to sm\ or 
 die with Christ' in Baptism because our sins are 
 then forgiven, and we cease to be sinners in God's 
 sight. We Q'ise again ^ because we are then ac- 
 cepted and adopted by God, and made partakers 
 of a principle of spiritual life. We are crucified 
 with Chiist ^, we put on Christ '% or put on the new 
 ma?i^ in Baptism, because we then become united 
 and conformed to Christ, and are made new crea- 
 tures in the eye and estimation of God. On the 
 other hand the same, or at least similar phrases, 
 such for instance as to mortify our members that are 
 upon the earth \ to crucify the flesh ^, to be made cmi- 
 fwmohle to Christ's death ^, to put on Christ '", to put 
 off the old, and to pid on the new man ", are used to 
 signify the practical change to which we are bound 
 over in Baptism, and an habitual conformity to the 
 example and practice of Christ. 
 
 When, for instance, the converts are reminded 
 that they are dead with Christ, that they have risen 
 with Christ, are crucified with Christ, or have put on 
 Christ, as an appeal to their faith, or by way of 
 motive to gratitude and obedience, they are referred 
 to the mysterious change, and the grace and pri- 
 
 1 Rom. vi. 1. ^ Col. ii. 20. ' Col. ii. 12. 
 
 * Rom. vi. 6. " Gal. iii. 27. ' Col. iii. 10. 
 
 " Col. iii. 5. ' Gal. V. 24. ' Phil. iii. 10. 
 
 '" Rom. xiii. 14. " Eph. iv. 21, 22. 
 
40 
 
 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 vileges received in Baptism, or, in other words, are 
 put in mind of their baptismal Regeneration. 
 When they are exliorted to mortify their members 
 that are upon the earth, to put on Christ, or to put 
 on the new man, they are reminded of that practical 
 change to which they were solemnly obliged in 
 Baptism ; or, in other words, of the necessity of 
 acquitting themselves of their religious engagements 
 in the renovation of their inward frame. But the 
 mysterious change, considered in itself, is a change 
 in the sight of God, and is the object of our faith 
 only. The practical change is a real internal change 
 of heart and habits, and is an object of experience 
 and consciousness. 
 
 III. The next head of Scriptural authority to 
 which I shall refer consists of texts of Scripture, 
 which attribute this change to washing or Baptism, 
 without the intervention of fiofurative lano-uao:e. 
 
 The first and most conclusive of these texts is 
 that in which our Saviour has enjoined his disciples 
 the use of Baptism, and given it the force of a 
 Sacrament by virtue of his word and promise. Go 
 ye into all tJie world and preach the Gospel to all crea- 
 tures. He that believeth and is baptized shall be savedK 
 The salvation, which our Lord here promises to 
 ba})tized believers, is manifestly what we call Re- 
 generation — a passage from a state of sin in Adam 
 
 Mark xvi. 16. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 41 
 
 to a state of grace in Christ — the first entrance 
 into a redeemed and justified life, including the 
 forgiveness of past sins, and a conditional grant of 
 final and everlasting salvation. 
 
 Precisely similar to this is St. Peter's assertion. 
 Baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away 
 the filth of the fiesh, hut the answer of a good con- 
 science toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ^. The salvation here ascribed to Baptism is 
 equivalent to Regeneration in Baptism. The text 
 contains an allusion to the well-known comparison 
 or analogy between this new birth and Christ's 
 resurrection. And the answer or stipulation of a 
 good conscience toward God, on which this salva- 
 tion hinges, means in effect the same thing as the 
 faith required by our Saviour. To the same pur- 
 pose the Apostle thus addresses himself to his 
 countrymen : Repent and be baptized every one of you 
 for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gifl 
 of the Holy Ghost ^. Save yourselves from this un- 
 toward generation ^ " Use without delay the means 
 of salvation which I have pointed out to you, faith 
 in Christ, repentance, and Baptism." Then, says 
 the historian, they that gladly received the word were 
 baptized. And afterwards : And the Lm'd added the 
 saved to the Church daily ^ He added to the Church 
 
 ' 1 Pet. iii. 21. - Acts ii. 38. 
 
 Acts ii. 40, 41 * Acts ii. 47. tovq (jioi^o^it/ovQ. 
 
42 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 those persons who used the means of salvation en- 
 joined them by the Apostle — received the word 
 gladly, repented and were baptized, and so received 
 remission of their sins, and the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 Again, in the case of St. Paul, the washing away 
 his sins, and, by necessary implication, his new 
 birth to righteousness, are expressly connected with 
 Baptism. Arise, and he baptized, and wash away thy 
 sins ^ 
 
 We have all of us, says St. Paul, been baptized by 
 one Spirit into one body, and have been all made to 
 drink into one Spirit ^ " Whether Jews or Gen- 
 tiles, all we who have been baptized have been 
 born again of the same Spirit, and incorporated into 
 one spiritual body^" And the same Apostle speaks 
 
 1 Acts xxii. 16. ' 1 Cor. xii. 13. 
 
 ^ The whole number of believers are represented in Scripture 
 as being, in the order and design of God's counsels, one body, 
 and one Spirit — that is, one body, actuated and informed by one 
 Spirit — (Tvu'd'v^oL, TO tv (jyoorovyreg. Hence I am inclined to 
 think that the two members or clauses of this passage are 
 parallel, expressing in effect the same thing — and that in 
 the latter clause we are to supply iv kyi Trvtv^iari from the 
 former. We have all of us, (nhether Jems or Greeks, bond or 
 free) been baptized by one Spirit into one body — i. e. so as to 
 become, or, in order that we may become, one body : and ive 
 have all of us been natered or irrigated by one Spirit, or made to 
 drink of one Spirit, into one Spirit — i. e. so as to become, or, 
 in order that we may become, one Spirit. 
 
 So in Eph. iv. 4. St. Paul, I think, speaks of believers, as 
 forming one body and one Spirit Either, Ye are one body, and 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 43 
 
 of Christ as purifying and sanctifying the Church 
 (that is, the whole body of believers taken compre- 
 hensively, and personified as a religious society) in 
 the water of Baptism, through faith in his word, and 
 the powerful operation of his promise. Christ loved 
 the Church and gave himself for it, that he might 
 sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water, by 
 the woi'd ^ 
 
 In the language of Theology the word Sanctifica- 
 tion has been commonly confined to that progressive 
 improvement which the Holy Spirit produces in the 
 hearts and habits of Christians. But Sanctification, 
 in a moral sense, signifies more properly a cleansing 
 from pollution, and a separation from the world to 
 God's service. Hence the ancients commonly gave 
 the name of Sanctification to Baptism; and this 
 usage of the word is justified by the Apostle's au- 
 thority, who ascribes the sanctification of the Church 
 to the washing of water. So in another passage 
 
 one Spirit, even as ye are called, 8^c. as there is one Lord, one 
 faith, ^-c. or, there is one body, and one Spirit, in the order and 
 design of God's counsels ; in other words, you believers ought 
 to form one body actuated by one Spirit, even as you have been 
 called, &c. The meaning is, that since they have one hope, one 
 Lord, one faith, one baptism, so they themselves, though en- 
 dowed with a variety of gifts, ought to form one spiritual com- 
 munity — endeavouring to keep the unily of the Spirit, unity of 
 affections and sentiments, worship and discipline, in the bond of 
 peace. These two passages are parallel, and enforce the same 
 duty. 
 
 ' Ephes. V. 25, 26. 
 
44 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 he connects the justification and sanctification of 
 his Corinthian converts with the washing of Bap- 
 tism. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not 
 inherit the kingdom of God? Then, after enume- 
 rating the defilements to which the Gentiles were 
 most prone, he adds, And such were some of you — 
 but ye Jiave been washed^ hut ye ham been sanctified^ 
 but ye ham been justified, in the name of our Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ^ The name in 
 which they had been baptized, the water, the Spirit, 
 the outward sign, and the inward grace of Baptism, 
 are here detailed and brought back to their recol- 
 lection in the way of solemn warning and admo- 
 nition. 
 
 When, therefore, St. Paul addresses the Roman 
 brethren as beloved of God, called, saints^, and the 
 Corinthians as sanctified in Christ Jesus, called, 
 saints^; when he speaks of his Ej^hesian converts 
 as Saints, whom God had chosen before the founda- 
 tion of the world to be holy and without blame before 
 him'^ : and when St. Peter addresses the strangers of 
 Pontus as men elect through sanctification of the 
 Spirit to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of 
 Christ^; they do not merely use a general phrase- 
 ology, and express themselves in the language of 
 hope and charity; but they allude to those privi- 
 
 ' 1 Cor. vi. 9—11. ' Rom. i. 7. M Cor. i. 2. 
 
 ' Ephes. i. 1. 4. •' 1 Pet. i. 1, 2. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 45 
 
 leges which had been bestowed on the converts, 
 and certified and assured to their faith in Bap- 
 tism. For in Baptism every true convert to the 
 faith of Christ was constituted a Saint, and pub- 
 licly elected into God's household, was sprinkled as 
 it were with the blood of Christ, and sanctified by 
 a special gift of the Spirit, a solemn designation, 
 and a mysterious conveyance of grace, to obedi- 
 ence and a blameless life. Beiyig born again\ not of 
 the corruptible seed of human nature, but of the 
 incorrwptible ^ seed of the Holy Ghost by the wm'd of 
 God, (through the instrumentality of his word, and 
 the efficacy of faith in his promise) which liveth and 
 endureth for ever. Fm^ the woi'd . of God, his pro- 
 mises in Christ, on which the new life and spiri- 
 
 ' 1 Pet. i. 23. 25. 
 
 ^ To be horn of incorruptible seed signifies, I apprehend, the 
 same thing as to be born of God, or born of the Spirit, and the 
 Spirit is the seed spoken of. 'E*: (nropdc, £»; Qeov, £V -KViv^aTOQ 
 — but we are thus bom ^ta \6yov Qeov, not as the principal or 
 efficient, but as an instrumental cause. It has been argued 
 indeed that the seed here mentioned is the word of God, because 
 in the parable of the Sower, the seed is expressly said to be the 
 word of God. But there is no similarity between the cases. 
 In the parable, mankind, or the human soul, is compared to a 
 field, into which the seed or word of God is cast, and either 
 perishes or thrives, according to the soil on which it lights. In 
 this passage, the incorruptible seed is spoken of, by a different 
 figure, as a principle of life, communicating a sort of new exist- 
 ence to the human soul. But this principle is either God him- 
 self as the principal, or, more properly, the Spirit as the efficient 
 cause of the new birth, or entrance into a new state of spiritual 
 existence. 
 
46 
 
 A GENERAL VIEAV OF THE 
 
 tual privileges of believers depend, endureth for 
 ever. 
 
 IV. The other passages of Scripture, which allude 
 to the same change, and bear a collateral testimonv 
 to the doctrine of baptismal Regeneration, may be 
 comprised under one head. 
 
 In the writings of the ancient Christians, Baptism 
 is often called, agreeably to St. Paul's language, a 
 Seal, and baptized Christians are said to have been 
 sealed. Theologians have likewise in later times 
 applied the same phrase to baptism, but in a sense 
 different from the Apostle's usage. For they speak 
 of it in a legal sense, as a seal annexed or appendant 
 to a charter or covenant ; and sometimes enter into 
 discussions upon the virtue of seals annexed to legal 
 instruments, and the nature of the grants confirmed 
 by them. But though Baptism is undoubtedly a 
 token of God's covenant, and a seal of the righteoiis- 
 7iess which is hy faith ^ (that is, a certain sign and so- 
 lemn confirmation of the forgiveness of sin, and of 
 acceptance with God), the Apostle does not describe 
 baptism under the figure of a seal annexed to legal 
 instruments, but as a seal affixed to ourselves ^ : as a 
 
 ' Rom. iv. 1 1. 
 
 ^ So in Ezekiel ix. 4, a mark (that is a seal or stamp) is set 
 on the forehead of the faithful, and in the Revelations vii. 3, 4, 
 &c., the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. This 
 figure of speech is borrowed from the Eastern custom, where a 
 seal is not an impression made on wax, but a stamp made with 
 the seal worn on the finger, (on which the name of the owner is 
 usually engraved) blackened with ink. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IX BAPTISM. 47 
 
 ceremony in which we are sealed or stamped with 
 the Spirit, and have as it were a mark set on us in- 
 wardly in the soul, as God's pecuhar property, in the 
 same manner that the Jews, under the carnal and 
 typical dispensation, were sealed and marked as 
 God's peculiar property outwardly in the flesh. This 
 baptismal consignation is likewise called an unction, 
 and an earnest of the Spirit \ and the Spirit then be- 
 stowed on us is called the Spirit cf adoption, because 
 when we are born again of water and of the Spirit, 
 we are bom of God, adopted into his family, and 
 publicly declared his children. He ivJiich stablisheth 
 lis vnili you in Christ, and hath anointed ?is, is God, 
 who hath also sealed us', hath set his own seal or 
 stamp upon us, and given us the earnest of his Spirit 
 in our hearts. In whom also cft&r that ye believed, ye 
 were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is 
 the earnest of our inheritance until the o^edemption of 
 the purchased possession ^ Grieve not the Holy Spirit 
 of God, whereby ye have been sealed unto the day of 
 
 ' Quis autem illiid dubitet, Baptisrni esse proprium oiBcium ut 
 per ilium sacris Christianorum initiemur, et in propriam ascri- 
 bamur Christianorum societatem ? Convenit prseterea, quod qui 
 confertur in Baptismo Spiritus Sanctus is dppafiiov (quae et arr/ia 
 est scriptoribus Romanis) in N. T. appelletur. Erat enim in 
 jure Romano arrha pactorum propria. Propria porro est arrha 
 temporis illius quo primo foedus inimus. Inde sequitur ut de 
 alia Spiritus collatione praeterquam baptismali nequeat intelligi. 
 Dodwell, Diss. Cyprianicae. D. 1.3. p. 113. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. ^ Ephes. i. 13, 14. 
 
48 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 redemptio7i \ Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, 
 whereby we cry, Abba, Father ^ Ye have an unction 
 from the Holy One, and the anointing which ye have 
 received of him abideth in you '. 
 
 In these passages the Apostles appeal to the re- 
 ceived doctrine of the Church, and the common 
 faith of Christians : and though they may perhaps 
 allude to those miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which 
 were bestowed on many of the first believers, they 
 speak principally of that mysterious change of spiri- 
 tual condition and consignation of the Holy Ghost, 
 which were universally believed to take place in 
 Baptism. Such is the sense which the history and 
 records of the ancient Church affix to these expres- 
 sions, and I am inclined to think that a sober and 
 dispassionate criticism, and a diligent inquiry into the 
 analogies of Scriptural language and doctrine, will 
 confirm this interpretation. 
 
 In the Epistle to the Colossians, St. Paul speaks 
 of Baptism, and illustrates the spiritual change of 
 which it is the instrument, under another figure of 
 the same imjDort — the circumcision of Christ. In 
 whom ye have been circumcised with the circumcision 
 made without hands, in putting of the body of the sins 
 of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ^, by that sa- 
 
 ' Ephes. iv. 30. * Rom. viii. 15. 
 
 ^ 1 John ii. 20. 27. xp/ff/ia that with which you have been 
 anointed: i. e. the Holy Ghost; compare John xvi. 13. 
 ' Col. ii. 11, 12. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 49 
 
 crament of Christ's appointment, which answers to 
 legal circumcision, and supplies its place, in the way 
 of proportion or analogy, under the Gospel dispensa- 
 tion. — Having been buried with him in Baptism^ 
 wherein also ye are risen again with him, through faith of 
 the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead^. 
 In this pregnant passage, the efficacy of Baptism 
 is described, and its nature explained and illustrated 
 by the analogy between the Christian and JeM'ish 
 ordinances. Circumcision was a federal initiation 
 into Judaism, and made over to the circumcised 
 person a direct interest in the blessings and privi- 
 leges explicitly promised in the Mosaic covenant. 
 Baptism is a federal initiation into Christianity, and 
 makes over to the baptized person a similar interest 
 in the blessings and privileges of the Gospel cove- 
 nant. As every male Israelite was made a member 
 of the congregation, and incorporated into God's 
 chosen people, when he was circumcised ; so in bap- 
 tism every disciple of Christ, whether male or fe- 
 male, infant or adult, becomes a member of his 
 mystical body, a child of God, and an inheritor of 
 the kingdom of heaven. For Circumcision bore the 
 same analogy to Baptism which the Mosaic dispen- 
 sation bore to the Christian. It was the shadow of 
 good thitigs to come, and not the very image of the 
 things^ ; and it conveyed no direct title to those 
 
 • Col. ii. 12. • ■' Heb. x. I. 
 
50 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 blessings, which were obscurely shadowed out, but 
 not explicitly promised, in the covenant to which it 
 was appropriated. 
 
 It has indeed been often maintained in later times, 
 that Circumcision is the same sacrament with Bap- 
 tism^; that it preached the same doctrine, and of- 
 fered and symbolized the same grace under different 
 rites and names ; that the circumcision of the heart 
 was to outward circumcision, what Regeneration is 
 
 ^ Quando Sacramentorum utriusque Testamenti idem est auctor, 
 eaedem promissiones, eadem Veritas, et idem in Christo comple- 
 mentum : merito dicimus, externis signis inter se difFerre, in illis 
 autem rebus, quas coramemoravi, vel summatim in re ipsa con- 
 venire. Sunt enim doctrinse appendices. Atqui doctrinse 
 eadem substantia. Sequitur ergo id quoque in Sacramenta com- 
 petere. Vulgare est apud Sophistas dogma : Sacramenta Legis 
 Mosaicse figurasse gratiam, nostra vero exhibere. (We shall 
 find in the following note, who these Sophists are.) Nos autem 
 Deum asserimus semper in suis promissis fuisse veracem : nee 
 quicquam figurasse ab initio, quod non patribus re ipsa exhi- 
 buerit : nam sub Moyse constabat circumcisionis Veritas. Calvin. 
 Ant. S. Sess. p. 296. 
 
 But the question is not, whether the doctrine of the Old and 
 New Testament is, or is not, substantially the same ? Whether 
 God did really bestow the grace of Christ upon the Fathers ? 
 and whether they looked for something more than transitory 
 promises ? But whether any direct promise of forgiveness of 
 sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost was annexed to their Sacra- 
 ments ? and whether the Jews were generally taught to believe 
 that such blessings attended upon them ? Whether they were, 
 in their plain and literal sense, instruments of spiritual blessings? 
 or whether the spiritual promises were only typified by the tem- 
 poral blessings and promises, which they made over by covenant 
 to the Israelites ? 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 51 
 
 to Baptism, and consequently that Regeneration and 
 the circumcision of the heart are one and the same 
 thing. But this opinion derives no support from 
 Scripture, nor from the writings of the earlj Chris- 
 tians ; and seems to have arisen from confounding the 
 inward grace of sacraments with their moral import, 
 or those duties and obligations which they imply 
 and enforce. The Apostle indeed, alluding to the 
 typical ceremony, calls our Regeneration in Baptism 
 a Circumcision not made with hands, and the ancients 
 often denominate it spiritual Circumcision, but there 
 is no identity between these expressions, and the 
 circumcision of the heart mentioned in the Old 
 Testament. The grace, or blessing conveyed by 
 circumcision, consisted in those national and re- 
 ligious privileges, which were the advantage of the 
 Jew, and the profit of Circumcision^ ; and these pri- 
 vileges were analogous to those spiritual blessings 
 which are bestowed on Christians in Baptism, and 
 are signified by the word Regeneration. But the 
 circumcision of the heart, spoken of by Moses and 
 the Prophet ; the mortification of the corrupt ap- 
 petites and fro ward dispositions, and obedience to 
 the Avill of God ; was the moral import of circum- 
 cision, or the moral lesson which was built upon it, 
 and the duty to which it solemnly engaged the 
 
 ' Rom. iii. 1. 
 E -2 
 
52 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 Israelites. The same duties are implied and en- 
 forced in the Christian Sacrament of Baptism, in 
 strict proportion to the nature and character of the 
 dispensation ; and are bound upon us by more pre- 
 vailing motives and more indispensable obliga- 
 tions ^ 
 
 1 It is the constant doctrine of the ancient Christians that 
 Judaism was a typical religion : and that the Jewish sacraments, 
 strictly speaking, did not, like the Christian, confer, but only 
 signified and foretold the grace of the Gospel. So Tertullian — 
 Circunicisio populo Israel data est in signum, non in salutem, 
 in salutis figuram, non in salutis medelam. 
 
 Ambrose (rather the ancient writer whose Commentaries have 
 been ascribed to Ambrose) in Rom. xv. Circumcisio carnis data 
 est in figuram circumcisionis cordis, cujus minister est Christus. 
 
 Augustin Ep. 19. ad Hieron. says, Sacramenta veterum 
 homines non justificasse, sed gratiam, qua justificamur, pras- 
 nuntiasse, do. In Mem. qu. 5. Si per se attendantur Sacra- 
 menta Vetera, nullo modo possunt mederi : si autem res ipsae, 
 quarum hasc sunt Sacramenta, inquirantur, in eis inveniri poterit 
 purgatio peccatorum. 
 
 Augustin, whose notions of Regeneration have been already 
 stated, calls the circumcision of the heart, puram ab omni illicita 
 concupiseentia voluntatem — de Sp. et litera Ambrose Ep. 73. 
 Litera occidens exiguam corporis portionem ; Spiritus intelligens 
 circumcisionem totius animae corporisque custodit, ut superfluis 
 amputatis, id est peccatis avaritiae libidinisque vitiis, frugalitas 
 diligatur, et castimonia teneatur. 
 
 In the language of Augustin and the schoolmen, res sacra- 
 menti does not signify its inward grace, or immediate and mys- 
 tical effect, but the moral and practical eiFect, which, according 
 to the order of God's counsels and the design of the institution, 
 it is intended to produce. 
 
 There are two circumstances which prove the difference between 
 Circumcision and Baptism. 
 
 1. Circumcision 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 53 
 
 In fine, those passages of the Epistles, which 
 distinguish between the first consignation of grace 
 and the duties of baptized persons, or between the 
 initiatory gift and earnest of the Holy Ghost, and 
 his abiding influences and effects ; may be considered 
 as so many appeals to the faith of the disciples, 
 and indirect testimonies to the truth of this im- 
 portant doctrine. Thus the Roman converts, whom 
 St. Paul had addressed as men who were dead with 
 Christ^ y who had been justified hy faith, and had 
 received the Spirit of adoption, are exhorted to present 
 their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, 
 to be transfm-med by the renewing of their minds, to 
 cast off the works of darkness, and to put on the armour 
 of light. Thus the Corinthians, who had been 
 washed^, sanctifi.ed, and justified, sealed, and anointed, 
 and endowed with the earnest of the Spirit, are 
 called upon to cleanse themsehes from all filthiness of 
 Hie flesh and of the spirit, and to perfect holiness in 
 
 1. Circumcision is accompanied with no promise of forgive- 
 ness of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, salvation, or eternal 
 life. God indeed declares that the uncircumcised male shall be 
 cut off from the congregation, which is evidently a threat of a 
 temporal nature. It follows, therefore, that the privileges which 
 it directly confers, are temporal likewise. 
 
 2. It was a ceremony, from which females were excluded. 
 The privileges, therefore, which it directly bestowed were such as 
 are peculiar to males, and consequently were not of a spiritual 
 nature. 
 
 ' Rom. vi. 8; v. 1 ; viii. 15 ; xii. 1, 2 ; xiii. 12. 
 ' 1 Cor. vi. 11 ; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22 ; vii. 1. 
 
54 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 the fear of the Lord. Thus the Apostle beseeches 
 God to bestow the Spirit of ivisdom and revelation. * 
 on those Ephesians who had been already sealed 
 with the Holy Spirit of promise, and calls upon 
 the same men who had been saved by grace, and 
 quickened and raised up together with Christ, to be 
 renewed in the spirit of their minds, to put off the old, 
 and to put on the new man. Thus to the Colossians, 
 he says, If ye then be ris^n with Christ, seek those 
 things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right 
 hand of God ^. 
 
 In these passages there is an e\ddent distinction 
 between privileges conferred and obligations con- 
 tracted; between the mystical and initiatory, and 
 the practical and progressive change of the disciples ; 
 between the earnest of the Spirit and what are usu- 
 ally called his illuminating and sanctifying influences. 
 The Apostle distinguishes between the grace which 
 they had already received, and the duties to which 
 they had engaged themselves, appeals to their faith, 
 and reminds them of a change, which as appears 
 from the tenour of his arguments and exhortations, 
 they must have been persuaded that they had 
 actually undergone. But this change was not that 
 practical improvement, to which he was exciting 
 and encouraging them : it was not a miraculous 
 
 ' Eph. i. 17; iv. 30; ii. 5,0,8; iv. 22, 23, 24. 
 
 ' C -1. iii. 1. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 55 
 
 transformation of heart and faculties, nor a miracu- 
 lous infusion of habitual holiness : but it was a 
 mysterious change of state and religious existence, 
 to which every one of them could refer without 
 doubt or self-delusion, denoted and certified by a 
 visible symbol, exhibited in a Sacrament, received 
 by faith, and confirmed by the promise of the Son 
 of God. 
 
 This is that change which, in conformity with 
 Scripture, has been called in the language of the 
 primitive Christians, Regeneration, a spiritual nativity, 
 a new birth of water and of the Spirit, the washing of 
 regeneration, a death to sin, and a new birth or resur- 
 rection to righteousness, a seal, an earnest of the Spirit, 
 spiritual circumcision, the circumcision of Christ, a 
 circumcision not made with hands. It is a change 
 which the Church has carefully distinguished from 
 conversion, the renewal of the inward frame, and 
 every other change, moral, spiritual, and miracu- 
 lous; and has not ventured to separate fi-om that 
 Sacrament, with which it has been identified by 
 Christ. 
 
 Such is the result of an inquiry into the principal 
 passages of Scripture, on which this primitive and 
 Catholic doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism is 
 founded. From this detailed review of Scriptural 
 authorities we may deduce a few observations. 
 
 1. We may observe that, according to the doc- 
 trine of Scripture, such a change as that which we 
 
56 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 denominate Regeneration, does actually take place 
 in Baptism. Christians are represented as receiving 
 the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost 
 in Baptism ; as being saved by Baptism, washed, 
 sanctified, and justified ; as being buried with Christ 
 by Bajitism into death ; buried and risen again with 
 Christ, in Baptism ; crucified with Christ, putting on 
 Christ in Baptism, sealed and anointed, endowed with 
 the earnest of the Spirit, and the Spirit of adoption ; 
 and circumcised with the circumcision of Christ made 
 without hands. Now all these expressions terminate 
 in a mysterious collation of grace, and a passage 
 from a carnal state in Adam to a spiritual state in 
 Christ ; or in our admission into this latter state, 
 carrying with it the forgiveness of sin, the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost, and a covenanted and conditional 
 title to everlasting happiness. 
 
 2. Several of the figures, by which this change 
 is denoted, resemble the expression, Regeneration 
 or the New Birth, and lead us to suppose that 
 they were intended to designate the same change, 
 and to convey the same ideas to our minds. But 
 since these figures speak of a change to which 
 Baptism is instrumental, we reasonably conclude 
 that to be born again of water and of the Spirit, and 
 to be saved by the washing of Regeneration, signify a 
 change effected through the same medium. And 
 this conclusion is confirmed by a comparison of these 
 figurative passages with those texts of Scripture, 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 57 
 
 which connect salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost with Baptism, in plain and 
 literal language. We are therefore fully justified in 
 the use which we make of this word Regeneration, 
 and other words of the same family, to signify in one 
 comprehensive phrase the spiritual benefits conveyed 
 over to us in the Sacrament of Baptism. 
 
 3. In some of the passages recited. Faith, (or that 
 Word \ which is the object of a Christian faith, and 
 implies faith as its correlative,) and repentance, are 
 spoken of in connection with Baptism, as qualifica- 
 tions for the saving use of it. But, where these 
 qualifications are not mentioned, they are obviously 
 implied and understood. Hence we conclude that 
 faith and repentance are necessary qualifications for 
 Baptism, wherever the subject is capable of them. 
 
 4. We must observe that, according to the whole 
 tenour of Scriptural doctrine, Regeneration uniformly 
 implies a strict obligation to newness of life, and 
 improvement in Christian virtues. These are the 
 duties of regenerate man ; not the necessary, but the 
 legitimate and intended effects of the New Birth, 
 depending on the right use of the means of grace 
 and spiritual assistance, and the right exercise of that 
 principle of self-action, which God has implanted in 
 
 1 1 Pet. i. 23. James i. 18. That /ail h which is "required 
 of persons to be baptized, whereby they stedfastly believe the 
 promises of God made to them in that sacrament," comelh hij 
 hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 
 
58 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 US. For what St. Peter says of our Regeneration in 
 Baptism, and first entrance into the Christian state, 
 applies with equal force to every stage of the life of 
 trial. Baptism doth save tis, not the putting away the 
 filth of the fleshy hut the answer of a good conscience 
 toward God \ 
 
 1 1 Pet. iii. 21. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 59 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A REVIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS WHICH 
 HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO THIS DOCTRINE FROM PAS- 
 SAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 It is a received maxim of Christian wisdom and 
 belief, that there can be no real inconsistency be- 
 tween the several portions of Holy Writ ; that they 
 exhibit one scheme and one form of doctrine, and 
 are parts of one great whole, issuing from the same 
 Spirit, and ministering to the same purposes. It 
 happens, however, that in some instances apparent 
 contradictions occur in matters of high import to 
 the soundness of Christian belief. We meet with 
 passages which seem at first sight to militate against 
 other texts, on which the universal Church has 
 grounded established points of doctrine and dis- 
 cipline. We must not be surprised then, if texts of 
 Scripture are alleged, which appear to some minds 
 
 8 
 
/^c^ 
 
 60 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 to contradict and confute this doctrine of Regenera- 
 tion in Baptism. I shall therefore review the most 
 material of those texts, and endeavour to prove, on 
 broad and general principles of interpretation, that 
 they do not in any degree invalidate the doctrine for 
 which I am contending. 
 
 Upon those passages which speak of the circum- 
 cision of the heart I have already stated my opinion'. 
 Though the circumcision of the heart may perhaps 
 more properly signify cutting off its evil lusts, and 
 removing the impediments to obedience, its meaning 
 may be so extended as to denote, without any vio- 
 lence to the figure, a renewed and obedient frame 
 of mind. In this sense it is equivalent to Regene- 
 ration, in the popular way of speaking ; or, in other 
 words ^ to repentance, renovation, or the change 
 and improvement of the inward frame. This is the 
 great business of the Christian life, the duty to 
 which our Regeneration in Baptism obliges us, and 
 which, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we shall 
 be enabled to perform. 
 
 But even upon the principles of the greater 
 number of those who dissent from this doctrine, it 
 can scarcely be maintained that Regeneration and the 
 Circumcision of the heart are parallel and equivalent 
 
 ' Particularly Rom. ii. 28, 29. 
 
 ^ IsltTavoia — The change of mind, or inward principles of 
 action. 
 
 I 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 6 I 
 
 expressions. For Moses exhorts the people to cir- 
 cumcise the foreskins o/" their own hearts ' ; and there- 
 fore, when God promises that He will circinncise their 
 Jiearts ^ the meaning evidently is, that He will give 
 them grace to circumcise their own hearts, to reform 
 themselves, to renew themselves in the spirit of their 
 minds. But I presume that they, who are most 
 averse to this doctrine, would scarcely exhort their 
 neighbours to regenerate themselves, or allow that 
 to be born again signifies to be endued with grace to 
 reform or regenerate ourselves. 
 
 Other passages are alleged, in which men are 
 spoken of as being sons or children of God without 
 any reference to Baptism, and from thence it is con- 
 cluded, that there is no necessary connection be- 
 tween Baptism and Regeneration. Sons of God, 
 indeed, is a phrase employed in a considerable 
 latitude, and used in a lower sense to denote those 
 who resemble God in some quality or other. But 
 in the stricter sense, of men taken into covenant 
 with God, reconciled to him through Christ, and 
 endow^ed with the Spirit of adoption, I certainly 
 conceive that to be, or to be made, children of God, 
 includes the notion of Baptism. For in this sense 
 of the phrase the children of God are saved, and 
 since our Lord has declared that he that believeth and 
 
 ' Deut. X. 16. Jer. iv. 4. Deut. xxx. 6. 
 
62 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 is baptized shall be saved \ and since his Apostles 
 have taught us that we m'e saved by Baptism and by 
 the washing of Regeneration ^ I do not think the 
 conclusion either forced or unreasonable, that Bap- 
 tism is, generally speaking, necessary to our being 
 made children of God ; nor can I persuade myself 
 that our Church teaches us, on weak and insufficient 
 grounds, that we are made children of God in 
 Baptism. 
 
 But in truth this species of negative proof, which 
 has been so much insisted on, is utterly untenable. 
 It is an undeniable rule of interpretation, that in 
 passages which are plainly parallel, what is wanting 
 in one text must be supplied from others that are 
 fuller and more explicit. Thus, since we are taught 
 that we must be born of water and of the Spirit, that 
 Baptism doth save us, that we are saved by the wash- 
 ing of Regeneration, and that he that believeth and is 
 baptized shall be saved ^, when we meet with passages 
 in which Christians are said to be so?is of God, to 
 become childreji of God, to have been born again, 
 or to have been born of God*, without mention of 
 Baptism, it follows that Baptism is implied, and 
 virtually contained, in these phrases. In fact, if we 
 suppose that our Saviour's precept was strictly com- 
 
 ' Mark xvi. 16. ' 1 Pet. iii. 21. Titus iii. 5. 
 
 ' John iii. 5. 1 Pet. iii. 21. Titus iii. 5. Mark xvi. 16. 
 ' 1 .John iii. 2. .lohn i. 12, 18. 1 Pet. i. 23. .Tames i. 18. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. (j3 
 
 plied with, and that the expressions connected with 
 it were famihar to the Church, since such phrases 
 as to be bwn again, or to be born of God, would 
 naturally suggest the idea of Baptism to the dis- 
 ciples, — the express mention of the sacramental 
 action would be unnecessary. When therefore 
 believers are said to have had 'power given them to 
 become the children of God, and to have been born of 
 God ; when God is said to have begotten us with the 
 word of his truth, and to have begotten us again to 
 a lively hope ; and when we are said to have been 
 boom again not of corrtiptihle seed but of iiicmi'uptible, 
 by the word of God, according to this sure prin- 
 ciple of interpretation. Baptism is implied in these 
 passages, as a subordinate and collateral mean of 
 grace ; and the negative argument becomes of no 
 value. 
 
 But the passages on which the greatest stress is 
 laid are certain texts of St. John's Epistles, which 
 are supposed to confute that connection which has 
 been thought to subsist between Baptism and Rege- 
 neration. For since the Apostle teaches us that 
 whosoever is bom of God doth not commit sin \- - that 
 
 ' 1 John iii. 9 ; v. 18 ; v. 4 ; v. 1 ; iv. 7. 
 
 * It frequently happens that the indefinite and past perfect 
 tenses of the Greek verb {ytyivvqTai, yEvvqdrj, ytyevvrmivoo) 
 not only signify a past and particular action, but a permanent 
 act consequent upon it ; and imply the natural or moral effects of 
 that action, and a continuance in the state of which it is the com- 
 mencement. So the words ciKauoBivTEQ, KaraWayivTEQ, XpttrrJ 
 
64 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world ; that 
 ever^/ one that loveth is born of God ; and that whoso- 
 ever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God ; 
 from hence it is argued, that they in whom these 
 signs concur are regenerate, whether baptized or 
 not ; that they, on the contrary, in whom these signs 
 are not to be found, though they may have been 
 baptized with water, have not certainly been born 
 again of the Spirit. 
 
 We may, however, suppose with good reason, 
 that the Apostle did not intend to invalidate his 
 Master's lesson, or to derogate from his institution. 
 Whatever may be the true meaning of the word 
 Regeneration, to be saved and to be born again are 
 
 uvvecTTavpujpai, imply a continuance in that state into which the 
 parties had been admitted. Thus these expressions of St. John 
 not only denote the new birth, but a continuance in that state of 
 new life, of which the new birth is the commencement. This ex- 
 pression, therefore, " he that hath been born of God," is equivalent 
 to the expressions, he that abideth in God, and a child of God, even 
 on grammatical principles. In order to express this sense in 
 our own idiom, we must make use of a periphrasis — He that 
 hath been born of God, and continues to be a child of God. We 
 must of course decide from the nature of the argument, and a 
 general view of the passages before us, when the past tense 
 implies continuance, and signifies a permanent act. The grounds 
 on which this sense is assigned to it in the present case, will be 
 seen in the body of the work. 
 
 Rosenmuller calls this use of the past perfect tense an He- 
 braism : but I am inclined to think that it is a Grecism like- 
 wise. Indeed, it is an usage which, though it may be more com- 
 mon in a tongue which has no present tense, seems to arise out of 
 the general nature and use of language. 
 
DOCTRINE OF RKCENERATIOX IN BAPTISM. 65 
 
 parallel expressions in the texts quoted in the last 
 chapter. But since Christ has taught us that he 
 that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, it seems 
 not very probable that St. John intended to say, 
 that he who believes is regenerated or saved, whe- 
 ther baptized or not ; or that those other qualifica- 
 tions can, according to the ordinary tenour of the 
 Gospel Covenant, entitle man to salvation inde- 
 pendently of Baptism. 
 
 But since these texts have been alleged with 
 much confidence in confutation of the opinion which 
 I am advocating, I shall not content myself with this 
 general reply to the negative proof, but shall explain 
 them more at large, in order to show that they are 
 perfectly consistent with the doctrine which con- 
 nects, and, in a qualified sense, identifies Regenera- 
 tion with Baptism. 
 
 When we meet with texts of Scripture containing 
 opinions apparently contradictory, they cannot both 
 be assumed as grounds of reasoning, in their simple 
 and literal construction, but they may usually be 
 reconciled to each other upon general and approved 
 principles of interpretation. For instance — If the 
 contending passages are both of a controversial 
 nature, an acquaintance with the opposite errors, 
 which the inspired writers were combating, will 
 probably bring them to an agreement. If the one 
 is direct and dogmatical, the other controversial, it 
 is evident that the dogmatical passage must furnish 
 
66 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 the key to the controversial. This therefore is one 
 simple method of reconciling such differences. We 
 must enter into the drift and intention of the 
 writers : we must consider, for instance, whether 
 they are laying down and explaining any particular 
 doctrine, or alluding to it as a well-known and re- 
 ceived opinion ; or are combating errors which had 
 been grafted on it. And we must attend to the 
 circumstances and positions of the parties, to whom 
 they originally addressed themselves. 
 
 On this ground, if I mistake not, notwithstanding 
 what St. John has written, we may safely adhere to 
 the doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism, which was 
 maintained by the ancient Christians. For those 
 passages, which they assumed as grounds and first 
 principles, are either intended to propound and ex- 
 plain the doctrine directly and dogmatically, or to 
 remind the disciples of what they had already learned 
 and believed, for purposes of practical improvement. 
 On the other hand these texts of St. John are of a 
 controversial nature, intended to combat a pernicious 
 misconstruction of what our Saviour and his Apostles 
 had taught. 
 
 Though we cannot exactly determine what per- 
 sons and opinions the Apostle was combating, it 
 appears certain, to use the words of an eminent Di- 
 vine, " that he has written a large part of his first 
 Epistle to confute some men of his own time, who 
 boasted that they had been born of God, while 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 67 
 
 they took no care to maintain good works'," — Men 
 who perverted the received and orthodox notions 
 of Regeneration tq the worst purposes, and laid claim 
 to the privileges and blessings of the Gospel Cove- 
 nant, while they were dispensing with its obligations, 
 and despising its sanctions. 
 
 Little doubt can, I think, be entertained that 
 this is a true statement of the general drift of the 
 Apostle's letter, and that what he has said on this 
 particular subject was intended to correct a dan- 
 gerous misconstruction of a current and catholic 
 opinion. But if Christ and his Apostles had taught 
 that Regeneration is a radical and entire change 
 of the mind and moral nature, and consequently, 
 that in the eye of reason, and the nature of things, 
 a sound faith and habitual holiness are the only 
 evidences of a new birth, the misconstruction 
 would have been almost impossible, and the heresy 
 would have confuted and condemned itself. If, 
 on the other hand, their doctrine was the same 
 which we find in the writings of the early Chris- 
 tians, men of corrupt minds would easily be induced 
 to separate the grace and privileges of Baptism 
 from the qualifications which they pre-suppose, and 
 the duties and obligations which they imply. They 
 would endeavour to persuade themselves and their 
 fellow Christians, that he who has been once 
 
 ' Waterland on Regeneration. 
 F 2 
 
68 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 mystically grafted into Christ, will abide in Christ 
 for ever ; that he who has once known God, will 
 know him to the end intimately and vitally ; and 
 that he who has been born of God in a sacramental 
 and mysterious manner, will never cease to be the 
 child of God. 
 
 The Apostle therefore secures the sound part of his 
 converts against the infection of this heresy, by carry- 
 ing their thoughts from the blessings and privileges 
 to the duties and obligations of Christianity, and in- 
 sisting on their inseparable union. To have fellow- 
 ship with the Father and the Son, to abide in the light, 
 to abide in the Father and the So7i, to know Christ, to 
 have, to see, to know the Father, and to be the sons of 
 God^, are different phrases which express in signifi- 
 cant language the great privilege of our religion ; 
 a mysterious union with the Deity, and a spiritual 
 relationship to God and Christ. But since this 
 union implies and requires a moral resemblance, it 
 will necessarily go to decay and expire without the 
 exercise of the corresponding duties. These are, 
 a sincere faith in Jesus as the Christ and the Son 
 of God^, and a resolute confession of the Father 
 and the Son^; a stedfast attachment to the word 
 
 ' 1 John i. 3. 7 ; ii. 10 ; ii. 24. 27, 28 ; iii. 6 ; iv. 13. 15, 16 ; 
 ii. 23. 2 John 9. 3 John 11.1 John ii. 4 ; iii. 24 ; iv. 7 ; iii. 1 ; 
 V. 20. 
 
 1 John V. 1. ."i. 
 
 ' 1 .John iv. 2, 3. 15. 2 John 7. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 69 
 
 of truth \ love and fellowship with each other ^ 
 walking as Christ walked \ an unfeigned obedience 
 to the commandments of God and Christ *, and a 
 life of righteousness and purity ^. 
 
 As therefore the whole tenor of the Epistle shows 
 that St. John is not teaching us how we are to 
 acquire our Christian privileges, but how we are to 
 preserve them, so it will satisfy an attentive reader 
 that, in the passages which bear upon this question, 
 he is not pointing out to us the tests of Regenera- 
 tion, but the criterions by which we must learn 
 whether we are indeed God's children in a practical 
 point of view, walking in the light and abiding in the 
 Father and the Son. With this clue to our enquiry 
 we shall find that these passages are so far from con- 
 tradicting the doctrine of baptismal Regeneration 
 that they evidently imply and presuppose it. 
 
 1. It forms a strong presumption in favour of this 
 view of the texts before us, that the points on 
 which they insist are the substance of the bap- 
 tismal engagements, which were required of Cate- 
 chumens, and assented to in the name of Infants, in 
 the earliest ages of the Church — a profession of 
 
 ' 1 John ii. 5. 14. 22, 23. 27. 
 
 ' 1 John ii. 9, 10; iii. 14. 16. 23; iv. 8. 11. 16, 20, 21 ; 
 V. 1, 2. 
 
 ' 1 John ii. 6. 
 
 * 1 John ii. 3, 4 ; iii. 22. 24 ; v. 3. 
 
 ' 1 John ii. 29 ; iii. 3. 7. 
 
70 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 faith in Christ, a renunciation of the devil, and, by 
 implication, of the world, and a promise of subjec- 
 tion to the will and commandments of God. But 
 these engagements, solemnly undertaken in Baptism, 
 extend to every portion of the Christian and proba- 
 tionary state. Whilst they are faithfully kept, the 
 spiritual life, commenced mysteriously in the Sa- 
 crament, advances practically and experimentally. 
 When they are neglected and broken, the salutary 
 effects of the new birth cease, till they are re- 
 covered by repentance; and we are no longer 
 numbered with the children of God. 
 
 2. It must be remarked that the same effects 
 which the Apostle attributes in these passages to 
 our having been bom of God, are ascribed by him in 
 other places of the same Epistle to our ahiding in 
 the light, knowing God \ abiding in God \ dtvelling in 
 God, a?id God in us ^ If he teaches us that whoso- 
 ever hath been born of God does not commit sin *, he 
 likewise teaches us that whosoever abideth in him, 
 sinneth not ^ If he teaches us that whosoever hath 
 been born of God does not commit sin, because his 
 seed (i. e, his Spirit) abideth in him, he likewise 
 teaches us that he that keepeth his commandments 
 dwelleth in him and he in him ^, and that hereby we know 
 that he abideth in us, by his Spirit, (by the fruits and 
 
 ' 1 John ii. 10. ^ 1 John ii. 4 ; iii. 24 ; ii. 6, &c. 
 •■< 1 John iii. 24 ; iv. 12, 15, 16. ' 1 John iii. 9. 
 ■' 1 John iii. 6. « 1 John iii. 24. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 7 I 
 
 evidences of his Spirit,) which he hath given us. If 
 he teaches us that whosoever loveth hath been bmm of 
 God \ he teaches us that he that loveth ahideth in the 
 light ^• and that he that dwelleth in love divelleth in 
 God^ and God in him ^. If he teaches us that he 
 that believeth that Jesus is the Christ hath been born 
 of God *, he likewise teaches us that whosoever shall 
 confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in 
 him and he in God '. 
 
 Since then in this Epistle the phrase to " have 
 been born of God" sicmifies the same thinof as to 
 " abide in the light," to " know God," to " abide in 
 God," to " dwell in God and God in us," we must 
 either so far identify the commencement and conti- 
 nuance of the Christian life, the spiritual birth and 
 the spiritual life, as to affirm that the one is the in- 
 separable and indefectible consequence of the other 
 — a position contrary to the whole tenor of our 
 religion, to the Apostle's doctrine, and to the express 
 drift and purpose of this Epistle — or we must allow 
 that the phrase is here used in an enlarged sense, 
 (expressing the continuance as well as the com- 
 mencement of the spiritual life,) 'with a view to a 
 particular controversy, and the correction of a dan- 
 gerous error ; that consequently the effects which he 
 ascribes to the mystical new birth are not its neces- 
 
 • 1 John IT, 7. ' 1 John ii. 10. 
 
 ^ 1 John iv. 16. M John v. 1. 
 
 " 1 John iv. l.'j. 
 
72 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 sary and inseparable, but its legitimate and intended 
 consequences ; and that the tests to which he remits 
 us are not, strictly speaking, the criterions of our 
 Regeneration, but of our continuance and advance- 
 ment in the spiritual and new life, of our abiding 
 and dwelling in God, and of his abiding and dwell- 
 ing in us. 
 
 3. But a brief explanation of the texts in question 
 will render this assertion still more evident. 
 
 Whosoever hath been born of God \ to any salutary 
 and lasting purpose ; he who has not only been born 
 again of water and of the Spirit, but is still the 
 child of God by a spiritual union and relationship — 
 in other words, he who dwelleth in God and God in 
 him, doth not commit sin, doth not give his mind to 
 sin nor addict himself to the practice of it, because 
 his seed (the same Spirit, whose mysterious earnest 
 was bestowed on him in Baptism) abideth in him ^ 
 leavening the whole lump, and transforming the 
 whole inner man : and, when this is the case, he 
 cannot sin\ morally speaking, because he hath been 
 born of God. For as abstinence from sin is the duty 
 of the new born creature, so a life of sin is contrary 
 to the purposes and obligations of the new birth, and 
 is a state directly opposite to the state of a real 
 
 ' 1 John iii. 9. 
 
 2 The Spirit is said to dwell in us, when he is working in or 
 exerting a saving influence upon our souls. 
 
 * He cannot be living in ;i habit of sin, or commit any such sin 
 as is unto death. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 73 
 
 Christian, and destructive of every Christian privi- 
 lege. 
 
 Whatsoever hath been born of God \ profitably and 
 eiFectually, overcometh the world ; is strenuously 
 engaged in combating and overcoming the world ; 
 and this is the victory which overcometh the ivorld, even 
 our faith. For Regeneration in Baptism always sup- 
 poses a renunciation of the world ; and that victory 
 over the world, which is wrought by faith, is the 
 legitiwMte and intended consequence of having been 
 born of God, and an obligation which the new birth 
 imposes on every Christian. 
 
 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ ^ and 
 whosoever loveth, hath been born of God ; he is leading 
 that spiritual life which is the proper effect of the 
 new birth in the order of God's counsels ; or, in other 
 words, he abideth in the light, and abideth in the 
 Father and the Son. For, since faith in Jesus, as the 
 Christ and the Son of God, is a main qualification 
 for the salutary effects of Baptism, and a material 
 branch of the sacramental profession and promise ; 
 and since the love of our brethren, comprehending 
 one great division of God's commandments, is 
 another part of our solemn vows and engagements ; 
 if our faith in Christ should become unsound or 
 unfruitful, or if our love to our brethren should wax 
 
 ' 1 John V, 4. 2 J JqJjjj y^ 1 . jv. 7. 
 
74 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 cold, we cannot, with any show of reason, lay claim 
 to the privileges, nor even to the name of God's 
 children. 
 
 This, I conceive, is a just view of these passages 
 of Scripture ; and they are so far from contradicting 
 the doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism, that they 
 appear to me to imply and pre-suppose it, and to 
 confirm its reception as an established article of faith 
 in the days of the Apostle. 
 
 Upon the whole, then, we may conclude, 1. That 
 the phrases, to be bom again, to be born of God, 
 and the corresponding expressions, are used in their 
 appropriate sense, when applied to the Sacrament of 
 Baptism, both as a sign, and as a mean or instru- 
 ment of grace, symbolical of our mystical death and 
 resurrection, and actually conveying over to us our 
 spiritual nativity, the pardon of sin, and the myste- 
 rious earnest of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 2. That there is nothing in the Apostle's words 
 which can allow us to separate Regeneration from 
 Baptism, or to affirm of any living disciple of Christ 
 that he has been born again, born of God, or born of 
 the Spirit, previously to this Sacrament. 
 
 3. That in the passages which have been exa- 
 mined, the phrase, to have been born of God, is used 
 in an enlarged sense to signify the continuance as 
 well as the commencement of the spiritual life, in 
 order to confute the pernicious tenets which had 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 75 
 
 been grafted on the doctrine of Regeneration, and to 
 fix the attention of the disciples on tlie duties and 
 obligations of their baptismal covenant. 
 
 For in those passages of Scripture, in which this 
 or similar phrases are used in their appropriate and 
 restricted sense, the doctrine is stated and explained, 
 and the solemn rite to which Regeneration, as a 
 covenant blessing, is tied down, is either insisted on, 
 or plainly alluded to. In these texts nothing is 
 said of the outward mean and instrumental cause of 
 Regeneration, which were well known to the dis- 
 ciples, and were necessarily implied and under- 
 stood ; but our attention is drawn to the qualifica- 
 tions which it requires, and to the moral and practical 
 effects which it was intended to produce ; without 
 which, as is allowed on all hands, it will lose its vir- 
 tues, and become a savour of death unto death \ 
 
 Ye know that he was manifested to take away our 
 sins ; and in him is 7io sin. Whosoever abideth in him 
 sinneth not : whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, nei- 
 ther known him. Little children, let no 7nan deceive 
 you : he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he 
 is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the Devil ; 
 for the Devil sinneth from the beginning. For this 
 purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might 
 destroy the works of the Devil. Whosoever is born 
 of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth 
 
 ' 2 Cor. ii. IG. 
 
76 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 in him, and lie cannot commit sin, became he is born of 
 God. In this the children of God are manifest, 
 and the children of the Devil : ivhosoever doeth not 
 righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not 
 his bi'other^. 
 
 * 1 John iii. 5, &c. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A VIEW OF THE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION TAUGHT 
 BY THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 When our Reformers settled tlie discipline, laid 
 down the doctrine, and compiled the Liturgy of our 
 national Church, they wisely determined to make 
 no unnecessary changes, nor to introduce any no- 
 velty in religion, but to place every thing, as 
 much as possible, on the same footing on which 
 it stood before the corruptions, which they were 
 removing, had found their way into the Church 
 of Christ. Hence they did not sit down to the 
 study of the Scriptures with a view of extracting 
 from them a new form of doctrine or discipline, 
 but they brought every opinion to the test of 
 Scripture, and allowed none to be valid and bind- 
 ing, but what were, as they were persuaded, fully 
 borne out by the authority of the Sacred Volume. 
 They likewise diligently enquired into the writings of 
 
.78 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 the ancient Christians, and having satisfied them- 
 selves upon the common princijiles of experience and 
 investigation, that the doctrines universally received 
 in the Churches in their days were agreeable to 
 the truth, they were so far from refusing the assist- 
 ance which they furnished them in the compilation 
 of our Articles and Liturgy, that they avowedly acted 
 on the principle of conforming as much as possible to 
 their opinions and phraseology \ 
 
 The doctrine of Regeneration maintained by the 
 early Christians has been already stated. That 
 Regeneration is made over to us in Baptism, in the 
 ordinary course of the Gospel dispensation, is an 
 opinion which the universal Church and all orthodox 
 writers had held without any doubt or variety of 
 sentiment, till the era of the Reformation. We 
 may therefore expect to find the same doctrine 
 taught in our Articles and Liturgy : and we have 
 reason to think that our Reformers would have 
 rejected at once any novel opinions % " which the 
 
 1 Accessimus autem, quantum maxime potuimus, ad Eccle- 
 siam Apostolorum et veterum Catholicorum Episcoporum et 
 Patrum, quam scimus adhuc fuisse integram — nee tantum doc- 
 trinam nostram, sed etiam Sacramenla, precumque publicarum 
 formam ad illorum ritus et instituta direximus. Inde enim 
 putavimus instaurationem petendam esse, unde prima religionis 
 initia ducta essent. Juelli Apologia, p. 184, Ench. Theol. 8vo. 
 1812. 
 
 * Imprimis vero videbunt concionatores, ne quid unquam 
 doceant pro concione, quod a populo religiose teneri et credi 
 velint, nisi quod consentaneum sit doctrinae Veteris aut Novi 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 79 
 
 Catholic Fathers and ancient Bishops had not 
 gathered from the doctrine of Scripture." Accord- 
 ingly, when we consult these documents, we find 
 that they make use of their phraseology, and adopt 
 their opinions, which are in fact plain and obvious 
 deductions from Scripture, unwarped by fanciful in- 
 terpretations and religious prejudices ^ 
 
 The first Article^ which alludes to this doctrine, is 
 that which treats of original or birth sin. In this 
 Article we are taught that " this infection of nature 
 doth remain, yea in them that are regenerate :" and 
 that " although there is no condemnation to them 
 that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth 
 confess that concupiscence or lust hath in itself the 
 nature of sin." In this sentence the word renatis 
 (or regenerate) in the Latin copy answers to the 
 
 Testamenti, quodque ex ea ipsa doctrina Catholici Patres, et 
 Veteres Episcopi collegerint. Canons, 1570. 
 
 On this Canon it may be remarked — that the Catholic Fathers 
 and ancient Bishops did uniformly collect from Scripture that 
 doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism, which our Articles and 
 Liturgy appear to common understandings to inculcate : and that 
 they never did collect from Scripture the doctrine which has been 
 substituted for it, and which its advocates have attempted to re- 
 concile to the plain statements of our Liturgy. 
 
 ^ Many of the prayers contained in our Service-book are the 
 same, or nearly the same, as were in use previous to the Refor- 
 mation. It appears that the compilers of our Liturgy were 
 anxious to retain such portions of the ancient services, as were 
 consistent with sound doctrine, and free from the corruptions of 
 the Church of Rome. 
 
 '" Article ix. 
 
80 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 word baptized in the English, which plainly shows 
 that our Reformers, in compliance with the ancient 
 doctrine, identified Regeneration with Baptism. We 
 arrive at the same conclusion from considering the 
 state of the controversy. For this part of the Article 
 is pointed at the doctrine of the Roman Church, 
 established by the Council of Trent, that the whole 
 infection of original sin is washed away and the soul 
 rendered altogether jmre in Baptism \ 
 
 The fifteenth Article, speaking of Christ alone 
 without sin, says, " All we that rest (although bap- 
 
 ' Si quis per Christi gratiam, quae in Baptismo confertiir, 
 reatum originalis peccati remitti negat : aut etiam asserit non 
 totum tolli id, quod veram ac propriam peccati rationem habet, 
 sed illud tan turn dicit radi, aut non imputari, Anathema sit. — 
 Veterem hominem exuentes, et novum, qui secundum Deum 
 creatus est, induentes, innocentes, iramaculati, puri, innoxii, ac 
 Deo dilecti, efFecti sunt Dei hasredes, &c. Concupiscentiam, 
 quam aliquando Apostolus peccatum vocat, Sancta Synodus 
 declarat Ecclesiam Catholicam nunquam intellexisse peccatum 
 appellari quod vera ac propria peccatum sit, sed quia ex pec- 
 cato est, et ad peccatum inclinat. Primum Decretum Quintag 
 Sessionis. 
 
 Paolo tells us that the Theologians of the Council agreed, 
 that original sm is effaced by Baptism, which renders the soul 
 as pure as it was in the state of innocence, though the penalties 
 of that sin remain to serve as exercises to the faithful. 1. 2. 
 §65. 
 
 The opinion of the ancients is conformable to the doctrine of 
 our Church. Lex ista peccati, quae in membris est corporis 
 mortis hujus, et remissa est regeneratione spiritali, et manet in 
 corpora mortali. Remissa, quia reatus solutus est sacramento ; 
 manet autem, quia operatur desideria, contra quae dimicant et 
 fideles. Augustin contra Julianum. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 8 1 
 
 tized and born again in Christ) yet offend in many 
 things :" evidently sjieaking of our Regeneration in 
 Baptism. 
 
 In the next Article likewise, which treats of sin 
 after Baptism, it is assumed, in conformity to the 
 doctrine of the universal Church, that " we receive 
 the Holy Ghost in Baptism." 
 
 In the twenty-fifth Article Sacraments are defined 
 to be " not only badges or tokens of Christian men's 
 profession, but rather certain sure witnesses and 
 eflScacious signs of grace, and God's good will to- 
 wards us." This is precisely the doctrine which the 
 ancient Christians held — that Sacraments are not 
 only signs significant or symbolical, but signs ac- 
 companied with a conveyance of grace, and a saving 
 efficacy ujDon the soul : and that they are sure wit- 
 nesses, testimonies, pledges, and securities, of God's 
 present and actual, and lasting good will toward 
 us. 
 
 In the twenty-seventh Article we are taught that 
 Baptism is not only a sign of profession or " a mark 
 of difference, but also a sign," an efficacious sign, " of 
 Regeneration or new birth," a sign through means 
 of which the inward grace of regeneration is actu- 
 ally bestowed on us, in virtue of Christ's institu- 
 tion and promise ; " whereby, as by an instrument," 
 after the manner of a legal instrument, which makes 
 over to a man the freedom of a public body, or his 
 
 G 
 
82 A GENERAL VIEW OF TJIE 
 
 title to any property or privilege, " they that receive 
 Baptism rightly," from the proper hands and with 
 proper qualifications, " are grafted into the Church ; 
 the promises of forgiveness of sins, and of our 
 adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, 
 are visibly signed and sealed," are openly ratified 
 and made good to us, as it were by the signing and 
 sealinsf of a deed or instrument. " Faith is confirmed 
 and grace is increased," in those recipients who are 
 capable of an increase of faith and grace, " by virtue 
 of prayer unto God. The Baptism of young children 
 is in any wise to be retained in the Church as most 
 agreeable to the institution." 
 
 In this part of the Article there can be no rea- 
 sonable doubt that the meaning of the Church is (a 
 point never doubted among orthodox Christians pre- 
 vious to the time of the Reformation) that every indi- 
 vidual Infant, receiving "Baptism rightly," partakes of 
 those graces of which Infants are capable — the new 
 birth, incorporation into Christ, forgiveness of sin, and 
 adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost. 
 For, independently of the argument for Infant Bap- 
 tism drawn from the analogy between Christian Bap- 
 tism and Jewish Circumcision, Baptism was instituted 
 for the salvation of sinners ; and since Infants are born 
 in sin and stand in need of forgiveness, and are capa- 
 ble of grace and salvation, it is most agreeable to the 
 institution that they should be baptized, in order 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 83 
 
 that they may partake of the Gospel promise, and be 
 saved or regenerated, without respect of persons, in 
 the way which Christ has appointed. 
 
 In the different offices for the Administration of 
 Baptism, the same doctrine is taught with particu- 
 larity and plainness, and a studied conformity to the 
 language and opinions of the ancient Christians. 
 Previous to the sacramental act, the person to be 
 baptized is represented as not regenerate ; but 
 from the moment that the ceremony has been per- 
 formed, he is pronounced regenerate, without a hint 
 or suspicion of any reserve, or of any doubt existing 
 in the minds of either the Minister or the Congrega- 
 tion. We are first told that " all men are conceived 
 or born in sin," and that " none can enter into the 
 kingdom of God unless they be regenerate, and born 
 anew of water and of the Spirit ;" and are therefore 
 besought to call upon God that the Infant " may 
 be baptized with water and with the Holy Ghost." 
 Accordingly, the Congregation joins with the Minis- 
 ter in praying, " that he, coming to God's Holy Bap- 
 tism, may receive remission of his sins by spiritual 
 Regeneration, and that God will give his Holy Spirit 
 to him, that he may be born again, and made an 
 heir of everlasting salvation :" and God is intreated 
 to " sanctify the water to the mystical washing 
 away of sin." As soon as the Child has been 
 baptized, and received into the Congregation, the 
 Minister solemnly pronounces him " regenerate, 
 
 g2 
 
84 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 and grafted into the body of Christ," and the Con- 
 gregation returns thanks to God, for having been 
 "' pleased to regenerate him with his Holy Spirit, to 
 receive him for his own child by adoption, and to in- 
 corporate him into his Holy Church." 
 
 In the office for receiving Children privately bap- 
 tized into the Church, instead of praying God to 
 " give his Holy Spirit to the Infant that he may he 
 born again," \ve beseech Him to "give the Infant 
 his Holy Spirit, that he, being born again," that is, 
 having been already born again, when he was bap- 
 tized, " may continue his servant and attain his 
 promises :" plainly expressing our firm persuasion 
 that Baptism is the point in which the new birth 
 takes place. 
 
 In short, these Offices, from one end to the other, 
 unequivocally exhibit that same doctrine of Re- 
 generation in Baptism, which has been stated in a 
 preceding chapter ; and are compiled in strict con- 
 formitv to the lanofuacre and sentiments of the 
 ancient Churches. Indeed, the views which they 
 present to us of the connection between this Sacra- 
 ment and the new birth, and of the opinion of our 
 Reformers on this head of doctrine, are most clear 
 and explicit, and appear scarcely to leave any open- 
 ing for cavils and disputes uj^on the subject. 
 
 In the Catechism it is affirmed that we " are made 
 members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors 
 of the kingdom of heaven in Baptism :" that a Sa- 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 85 
 
 crament is "an outward and visible sig-n of an in- 
 ward and spiritual grace given unto us," and that 
 this sign or sacrament is " ordained by Christ liim- 
 self as a means," that is, an instrumental cause, or 
 instrument of conveyance, " whereby we receive 
 the same" inward grace, " and a pledge to assure us" 
 of its collation ; and that the inward and spiritual 
 grace of Baptism is " a death unto sin and a new 
 birth unto righteousness ;" the forgiveness of sin, 
 implying the promise of power to resist and over- 
 come it, and the gift of the Holy Ghost as the prin- 
 ciple of the new life of righteousness. In proof of 
 this, we are reminded that " being by nature born in 
 sin, and children of wrath, we are made children of 
 grace," children of God, and partakers of his grace, 
 by Baptism. For if we are born in sin and children 
 of wrath, we cannot become children of grace by 
 Baptism, unless we receive the forgiveness of sin and 
 a new principle of righteousness, in the right use of 
 that Sacrament. 
 
 In the Office of Confirmation \ the Regeneration 
 
 • There are some passages in the writings of Cyprian, which 
 would seem to imply that, though forgiveness of sin and spiritual 
 regeneration are conferred in Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost 
 is, more properly speaking, bestowed by laying on of hands. But 
 since in other passages of his works he positively states that we 
 are born again of the Spirit, and renewed by the Spirit, in Bap- 
 tism, he can only mean that the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is 
 bestowed in Baptism, is increased and strengthened by impo- 
 sition of hands. He uses indeed a phrase, which shews the 
 
J^ 
 
 86 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 of the parties before the Bishop, and the forgiveness 
 of their sins in Baptism, are directly and unequivo- 
 
 o-reat importance that he attached to this ceremony — Sacramento 
 utroque nascuntur — intimating that, in his opinion, the new birth 
 could not be deemed complete without Episcopal imposition of 
 hands, or, as it is commonly called, Confirmation. 
 
 Quod nunc quoque apud nos geritur, ut qui in Ecclesia bap- 
 tizantur, prsepositis Ecclesias ofFerantur, ut per nostram orationem 
 et manus impositionem Spiritum Sanctum consequantur, et 
 signaculo dominico consummentur. 
 
 Afterwards, expressing his disapprobation of the opinion that 
 heretics might be received into the Church by imposition of 
 hands only, without Ecclesiastical Baptism, he says ; — Ideo 
 baptizari eos oportet, qui de haresi ad Ecclesiam veniunt, ut 
 qui legitime et vero et unico Sanctae Ecclesise Baptismo ad 
 regnum Dei regeneratione divina prseparantur, sacramento utro- 
 que nascantur, quia scriptum est : Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex 
 aqua, et Spiritu, non potest intrare in regnum Dei. Ep. ad 
 Jubaianum, 73. 
 
 The same argument occurs in his Epistle to Stephen, 72. 
 
 Dr. Hammond observes : — 
 
 Nobis extra omne dubium ponitur Spiritum Domini in Bap- 
 tismo dari (nee enim aliter verum esset ex aqua et Spiritu nasci), 
 cujus tamen largioribus rivis homines in Confirmatione prolui 
 ac perfundi aeque non dubitamus. De Confirmatione, vol. i. 
 p. 892. 
 
 The following passage he quotes from Eucherius de Guber- 
 natione Dei, as expressing the common sentiments of the ancient 
 Christians. 
 
 Spiritus Sanctus qui super aquas Baptismi salutifero descendit 
 illapsu, in fonte plenitudinem tribuit ad innocentiam, in Con- 
 firmatione gratiam prsestat ad augmentum. In Baptismo rege- 
 neramur ad vitam, post baptismum confirmamur ad pugnam. 
 In Baptismo abluimur, post baptismum roboramur. Regene- 
 ratio per se sal vat raox in pace beati saeculi recipiendos : Con- 
 firmatio armat ac instruit ad agones mundi hujus et praslia 
 rtservandos. p. 895. Besides 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 87 
 
 call J asserted : "Almighty God, who hast vouchsafed 
 to regenerate these thy servants by water and the 
 Holy Ghost, and hast given them forgiveness of all 
 their sins ; strengthen them, we beseech thee, with 
 the Holy Ghost the Comforter." And precisely in 
 the same manner, we intreat God in the Collect 
 for Christmas Day, that " we being regenerate," 
 that is, having been born again, and made his chil- 
 dren by adoption and grace, " may be daily renewed 
 by his Holy Spirit." For, since oar Liturgy every 
 where teaches and assumes our adoption and Rege- 
 neration in Baptism, and never uses the word ex- 
 
 Besides the passages quoted in Chapter 8, from Cyprian, to 
 shew that in his opinion the Holy Ghost is given in Baptism, the 
 following are decisive of his sentiments : — 
 
 Per baptisma enim accipitur Spiritus Sanctus, et sic a bapti- 
 zatis, et S.piritum Sanctum consecutis, ad bibendum calicem 
 Domini pervenitur. Ep. 63. ad Cfficilium. 
 
 Peccata purgare, et hominem sanctificare aqua sola non potest, 
 nisi habeat et Spiritum Sanctum. Quare aut et Spiritum necesse 
 est concedant esse illic, ubi baptisma esse dicunt ; aut nee bap- 
 tisma est, ubi Spiritus non est, quia baptisma esse sine Spiritu 
 non potest. Ep. 74. Pompeio. 
 
 In the same Epistle, speaking of receiving the Holy Ghost 
 by the imposition of hands, he says : Porro autem non per raanus 
 impositionem quis nascitur quando accipit Spiritum Sanctum, sed 
 in Baptismo, ut Spiritum jam natus accipiat, sicut in primo 
 homine Adam factum est. Ante enim Deus eum plasmavit, et 
 tunc insufflavit in faciem ejus Spiritum vitae. Nee enim potest 
 accipi Spiritus, nisi prius fuerit qui accipiat. 
 
 But though there is an apparent inconsistency in these pas- 
 sages, it was always the doctrine of the Church, grounded on 
 plain texts of Scripture, that the Holy Ghost is received in 
 Baptism. 
 
88 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 cept in reference to Baptism, the supposition that 
 in this prayer the congregation is contemplated as 
 unregenerate, and that we are praying for some 
 other regeneration and adoption, is totally incon- 
 sistent with sound and just principles of interpreta- 
 tion. 
 
 We find, then, that our Liturgy, in strict con- 
 formity to the doctrine of the universal Church, 
 makes no mention of Regeneration except in con- 
 junction with Baptism ; and that its compilers were 
 so far from attempting to separate what had been 
 intimately connected in the faith and discipline of 
 their forefathers in Christianity, that they have 
 never introduced the word into these services even 
 in a popular sense. The learned Archbishop of 
 Cashel has investigated the genealogy of these 
 Offices, and shewn that this doctrine pervades all 
 those documents from which we can infer their true 
 drift and import, on legitimate jjrinciples of analogy 
 and induction. He has traced the doctrine which 
 they exhibit to the writings of Cranmer, the two 
 books of Homilies \ the paraphrase of Erasmus, the 
 
 1 In the Homilies this doctrine is evidently assumed, and often 
 asserted and alluded to. 
 
 Insomuch that Infants, being baptized and dying in their 
 infancy, are by this sacrifice washed from their sins, brought 
 to God's favour, made his children, and inheritors of his kingdom 
 of heaven. And they which in act or deed do sin after Baptism, 
 are by this sacrifice washed from their sins. Homily on Salvation, 
 p. 1, 17. London Edition, 1817. Here 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 89 
 
 works of Luther, and the public services of tlie 
 Lutheran Church. As we ascend higher, the line 
 of testimony continues unbroken, and the doctrine 
 of Regeneration in and through Baptism, as a ne- 
 cessary Article of Christian faith, grounded on our 
 Saviour's express declaration, may be traced back- 
 ward without interruption from the time of the 
 Reformation to the days of the Apostles. 
 
 Here it is assumed that Infants are, in virtue of Christ's 
 sacrifice, washed from their sins in Baptism ; and the distinc- 
 tion between the forgiveness of sins in Baptism, and subsequently 
 to it, is laid down. 
 
 So again at the latter end of the First Part of the same 
 Homily : — 
 
 And therefore we trust to obtain thereby God's grace and 
 remission, as well of our original sin in Baptism, as of all actual 
 sin committed by us after baptism, if we truly repent and turn 
 unfeignedly to him again, p. 23. 
 
 " The fountain of our regeneration (Xov-pov TzaXtyyeviaiac) is 
 there presented unto us." Homily of repairing of Churches, p. 
 251. 
 
 Our Saviour Christ altered and changed the same (i. e. the 
 Jewish washings) into a profitable Sacrament, the Sacrament of 
 our Regeneration, or new birth. Homily on Fasting, p. 266. 
 
 We be therefore washed in our Baptism from the filthiness of 
 sin, that we should live afterward in the pureness of life. Ho- 
 mily on the Passion, p. 385. 
 
 By holy promises, with calling the name of God to witness, 
 we be made lively members of Christ, when we profess his reli- 
 gion, receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. Homily on Swearing, 
 p. 62. 
 
 These passages of the Homilies present us with exactly the 
 same view of the eflFects of Baptism which pervades the writings 
 of the ancient Christians. Baptism is called the Fountain and 
 Sacrament of our Regeneration, and we are said to be washed 
 from the filthiness of sin, and made livelv members of Christ in 
 
90 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 It is true that we find many Divines of our 
 Church departing more or less from the language or 
 the doctrine of these formularies, and led by the 
 fashion of the day, and their deference to the opi- 
 nions of some foreiofn Theologfians of eminence, to 
 relinquish the sentiments and phraseology of Chris- 
 tian antiquity'. But the greater number of those 
 Divines, who have been most distinguished for their 
 intimate acquaintance with the history of ecclesias- 
 tical opinion, a sound judgment, and a vigorous 
 understanding, though they may have sometimes 
 used the word Regeneration in an enlarged and po- 
 pular sense, have adhered to the primitive doctrine, 
 and enforced it with the whole weight of their 
 learning, talents, and eloquence. 
 
 From a review then of our Articles and Liturgy 
 we may derive the following conclusions. 
 
 1. They maintain the doctrine of Regeneration in 
 Baptism in the most decided manner, grounding it 
 on the same texts of Scripture, from which the 
 ancient Christians had deduced it ; including under 
 it forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and 
 
 Baptism. But at the same time the necessity of living in pure- 
 ness of life, and of repenting truly of sins committed after Bap- 
 tism, are distinctly insisted on. 
 
 ^ I would refer the reader to the 4th, 5th, and Gth Chapters of 
 Archbishop Laurence's Doctrine, &c. Part 1st — especially to 
 the 5th Chapter, in which Cranmer's opinion is stated at length. 
 — Of the Divines to whom 1 allude, I need only mention, Jewel, 
 Hooker, Andrews, Taylor, and Barrow. 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 91 
 
 the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven : and 
 never introducing the word itself except in conjunc- 
 tion with Baptism. 
 
 2. They teach, in common with the ^vritings of 
 the ancient Christians, the necessity of faith and 
 repentance as qualifications for the salutary effects 
 of Baptism. But they never contemplate any 
 person, however qualified, as regenerate, till he is 
 actually baptized. 
 
 3. They suppose that infants, who are necessarily 
 free from actual sin, are duly qualified for Baptism, 
 and are looked on by God precisely in the same 
 light as penitents and believers : and they unequi- 
 vocally assert that every baptized infant without ex- 
 ception is born again. 
 
 4. They suppose that all baptized persons, whe- 
 ther infants or adults, contract a solemn eno^ao-ement 
 to holiness and newness of life : and that their con- 
 tinuance in a state of salvation depends on their fu- 
 ture conduct. 
 
 5. They lay down a very plain and broad distinc- 
 tion between this grace of Regeneration, and con- 
 version, repentance, renovation, and such Christian 
 virtues and changes of the inward frame, as require 
 the concurrence of man's will and endeavours, imply 
 degrees, and are capable of increase. 
 
92 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A VIEW OF THE ATTEMPTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE 
 TO INVALIDATE THE LINE OF ARGUMENT PURSUED 
 IN THE LAST CHAPTER. 
 
 We have seen in the preceding Chapter that the 
 Church of England, treading in the steps of the pri- 
 mitive Christians, and of the universal Church, 
 teaches with the greatest perspicuity the doctrine of 
 Regeneration in Baptism, and confines the word to 
 that single occurrence in her Articles and Liturgy. 
 Some of her members, however, having adopted a 
 notion, that Regeneration necessarily implies habi- 
 tual holiness, that it is a turning point from evil to 
 good, including an entire change of mind, a radical 
 change of all the parts and faculties of the soul, or 
 an implantation of such a habit of grace as must, 
 in the very nature of things, produce a corresponding 
 effect upon the life and manners, and, consequently, 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 93 
 
 that it can have no immediate dependence on 
 Baptism, have endeavoured to set aside the line of 
 argument that has been pursued, and to reconcile 
 their own opinions to the clear and unambiguous 
 statements of those formularies. It may seem a 
 difficult business to make the language, which was 
 meant to express one theory, correspond with 
 another of a very different kind. Yet with the aid 
 of a few subtle distinctions, arbitrary suppositions, 
 and seeming analogies, ingenious men will easily 
 satisfy themselves that they have accomplished this 
 task, and will probably persuade others, whose views 
 and opinions coincide with their own, that they have 
 succeeded in their undertaking. 
 
 If our theories are sound, the difficulties which 
 seem to embarrass them must be solved on such 
 general principles, as are strictly applicable to the 
 cases in question. If we are obliged to resort to 
 experiments and temporary expedients, to analogies 
 which have no real points of agreement, or to prin- 
 ciples which do not bear upon the matters in debate, 
 we have good reason to doubt the soundness of our 
 opinions, and to suspect that the difficulties may 
 possibly originate in the faultiness of our own 
 theories. 
 
 Several solutions have been proposed in order to 
 get rid of this discordance between the language 
 of our own Church, and the opinions of some 
 Churchmen. But in the mean time it seems to 
 
94 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 have been forgotten, that the true sense of these 
 compositions must be ascertained by investigating 
 their genealogy, and endeavouring to discover the 
 opinions of their compilers, and the principles on 
 which they were really constructed. 
 
 Some of our Calvinistic Divines \ who maintained 
 the doctrines of an effectual call ^, the implantation 
 of a habit of grace, and the indefectibility of that 
 
 ' Etsi remissio peccati originalis in infantia morituro sit efFec- 
 tus praedestinationis, tamen no a necesse est ut sit in omnibus 
 infantibus baptizatis supravicturis efFectus praedestinationis. Etsi 
 enim parvulum non electum in eo statu ponat, ut sufScienter 
 ordinet eum ad vitam asternam pro eo statu : tamen cum idem 
 parvulus adoleverit, haec sola remissio originalis reatus non sufii- 
 cit ut idem sufficienter ordinetur ad vitam pro statu adulti : nisi 
 enim impleverit votum Baptismi, non justificatus erit pro modo 
 adulti. Cum itaque multi baptizati infantes in adulta aetate 
 nunquam aetu impleant votum Baptismi, ac proinde nun- 
 quam ad salutem pertingant : sequitur istius modi remis- 
 sionem originalis peccati esse efFectum communis providentiae 
 divinae supernaturalis, et non efFectum preedestinationis. Dr. 
 Samuel Ward. 
 
 This is quoted from a curious treatise, de Infantilis Baptismi 
 vi et efficacid, inserted in the works of the learned Gataker. It 
 contains a discussion between Dr. Ward, who was Margaret 
 Professor, and Master of Sidney College, and one of King 
 James's deputies to the Synod of Dort, and Gataker, upon the 
 question, whether all infants are justified in Baptism ? Large 
 references are made in it to the writings of the most eminent 
 Calvinistic Divines, from which I have borrowed several quo- 
 tations. 
 
 To the quotations which I have borrowed from this tract, I 
 have subjoined the letter G. 
 
 2 By an effectual call is meant, in the language of these 
 Divines, what Augustin styles a call according to God's purpose ; 
 that is, a call which necessarily implies perseverance to the end, 
 and eternal salvation. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 95 
 
 habit, had too much learning and candour to suppose 
 that the services of the Church had departed from 
 the ancient doctrine, or that they were written in a 
 strain of equivocation and subterfuge. They there- 
 fore allowed that the Church, in common with 
 Augustin and the ancient Christians, explicitly 
 teaches the doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism ; 
 and readily granted that every baptized infant re- 
 ceives forgiveness of sin, and is born again of water 
 and the Spirit. But they endeavoured to salve their 
 own system by maintaining that the effectual call 
 and saving special grace are the effects of God's firm 
 predestination, whereas Regeneration in Baptism 
 is only the effect of his supernatural Providence. 
 What grounds there are for this distinction, is a 
 question which may be safely left to the judgment 
 of my readers. 
 
 A Calvinistic Prelate ' of some note has endea- 
 voured to reconcile his own opinions to the language 
 of the Church, by laying down a distinction between 
 ecclesiastical and spiritual Regeneration. He con- 
 tends that as there is an external and relative as 
 well as an internal Sanctification, so there is an ex- 
 ternal as well as an internal Regeneration. But this 
 analogy has no ground to rest upon. For Sancti- 
 fication is a word of large compass, comprehending 
 the outward separation of things and persons to 
 
 * Bishop Hopkins. 
 
96 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 God's service, and the removal of bodily and legal 
 uncleaunesses, as well as the inward purification of 
 the soul. But Regeneration uniformly signifies a 
 spiritual change, and Regeneration in Baptism is 
 expressly called by our own Church " spiritual Re- 
 generation," " a new birth of water and the Spirit,^'' 
 " a mystical washing away of sin,'^ " a washing and 
 sanctifying with the Holy Ghost.'" 
 
 These expedients however are so manifestly mere 
 experiments, that they appear to have met with 
 little approbation or encouragement. But the 
 favourite method of solving this diflficulty consists 
 in an endeavour to show, that when our Church 
 pronounces the baptized person regenerate, this de- 
 claration proceeds upon the ground of charitable 
 supposition \ or generalized language ; and we are 
 
 ' This judgment of charity is alleged by Bishop Carleton, in 
 his Examination of Montague's Appeal, 195, 
 
 " Israel was called to be a people of God, but all that were so 
 called, were not so in truth : so all that receive baptism are 
 called the Children of God, regenerate, justified : for to us they 
 must be taken for such in charity, until they show themselves 
 other." 
 
 But Bishop Carleton argues professedly on the Calvinistic 
 grounds, that none but the Elect (?'. e, those who are infallibly 
 predestinated to eternal life) are ever truly justified and regene- 
 rate, and that the regenerate can never fall from grace totally 
 and finally. 
 
 He afterwards admits that the objections to the Calvinistic 
 doctrine drawn from our Service Book, may be solved by the 
 distinction between those who are regenerate sacramento terms 
 only, and those who are so according to God's purpose and 
 calling. P. 107. This 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 97 
 
 taught that these j^rinciples pervade every part of our 
 Liturgy. Here then is an attempt to get rid of this 
 difficulty professedly upon general principles : but I 
 apprehend that these principles, with whatever confi- 
 dence they are relied upon, will fail in the application. 
 It is universally allowed, indeed it is plainly 
 taught in our office for the Baptism of those of ri2)er 
 years, that the baptized adult is declared regenerate 
 upon the supposition of his sincerity. But in the 
 case of infants no such supposition can possibly be 
 made : and consequently this principle of charitable 
 supposition ^ fails, upon the common grounds of 
 analogical reasoning. But it is urged, that because 
 sincerity is supposed in the case of adults, some- 
 thing like sincerity is supposed in the case of in- 
 fants : or, what is more tangible ground, and appears 
 to be the upshot of the argument, that the infant is 
 pronounced regenerate, on the presumption that his 
 vows and promises will be performed. Here again, 
 if I mistake not, this principle of charitable sup- 
 position totally fails. We pronounce an adult re- 
 generate not upon a presumption that his promises 
 will be performed, but upon the supposition that 
 his professions are sincere. His performing his pro- 
 
 This is equivalent to the distinction maintained by Dr. 
 Ward. 
 
 ' In fact the judgment which we pass upon adults can scarcely 
 be called a charitable supposition. For after they have been 
 instructed and examined, and their motives and principles scru- 
 tinized, 7ve have no right to form any other judgment. 
 
98 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 mises and continuing God's servant are the objects 
 of our hope, our prayers, and our exhortations : but 
 we are too well acquainted with the weakness of 
 our nature, and the condition of a life of trial, to 
 act upon the presumption of such contingencies. 
 Precisely in the same manner we pronounce the 
 infant regenerate, not upon the supposition of an 
 imaginary sincerity, but because we know that he 
 cannot be insincere, and are convinced that there 
 can be no other bar to his Regeneration : whilst, with 
 respect to the performance of his vows and pro- 
 mises, we hope, we pray, we remind the sponsors of 
 their duty, but we form no presumptions of his 
 future conduct. The adult is bound to keep his 
 engagements from the moment that he enters into 
 them ; the infant, when he is of an age to under- 
 stand and perform them. But neither party is 
 declared regenerate upon a presumption that he will 
 acquit himself of his obligations. 
 
 The same plea however is brought forward in a 
 somewhat different shape. It is contended that our 
 Offices, when they pronounce baptized persons re- 
 generate, merely make use of a generalized lan- 
 guage. This, we are told, is the principle on which 
 all public documents proceed, and on which our 
 Common Prayers are necessarily compiled. For 
 instance, the Confessions of the Church are couched 
 in general terms, without leading us to suppose, 
 that every person who joins in them really feels the 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 99 
 
 weiglit of his sins. The same generalized language 
 pervades, we are taught, the whole body of the 
 Epistles, in which all the Converts are addressed 
 as Saints^ Electa beloved of God, and sanctified in Jesus 
 Christ, though there can be no doubt that many of 
 their number could have no just claim to these ap- 
 pellktions. Upon the same principle, since it is not 
 denied that some persons are regenerated in Bap- 
 tism, and we cannot distinguish those who receive 
 this blessing from those who are excluded from it, 
 in the language of charity we declare every baptized 
 individual regenerate. 
 
 Undoubtedly public documents addressed to, or 
 framed for the use of, large bodies of men must 
 employ a generalized language ; and Common 
 Prayers can be composed only on the supposition 
 that they who join in them enter on the duty with 
 sincerity and devotional feelings. Nor will it, I 
 apprehend, be contended that all those who join in 
 the prayers and confessions of our Church are truly 
 devout and contrite : or that all the members of 
 the Apostolical Churches were such persons as their 
 Christian profession implied and required. But I 
 do not perceive what analogy there is between 
 public documents and proclamations, the Common 
 Prayers of a Church, or the Epistles of the A])ostles 
 to considerable bodies of converts, and an authori- 
 tative declaration pronounced by the minister upon 
 particular individuals. We know that in the case 
 
 H 2 
 
100 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 of adults this declaration proceeds upon a persuasion 
 of their sincerity ; but since infants are not capable 
 of insincerity, if we once allow the validity of their 
 Baptism, it follows that the judgment which we 
 pronounce upon them, is absolute and unrestricted. 
 For it can scarcely be doubted on any grounds 
 of either reason or Scripture, that if one infant is 
 qualified to receive Regeneration in Baptism, all 
 infants are equally qualified. 
 
 It is contended however that since all men are 
 born in sin, and children of wrath, and since infants 
 are children of wrath up to the moment of their 
 Baptism, we cannot pronounce them worthy recipi- 
 ents without a palpable contradiction. This objec- 
 tion appears to be built on a verbal fallacy. For 
 by worthiness we do not mean any kind of desert, 
 or positive congruity to receive grace, but such qua- 
 lifications for Baptism and Regeneration as God is 
 mercifully pleased to accept. But the same objec- 
 tion presses with equal force on the case of adult 
 Baptism. For the Scriptures, our own Church, and 
 those members of it who allow that worthy adults 
 are born again in Baptism, consider them likewise 
 as children of wrath up to the moment of the 
 Sacrament ; and believe that faith and repentance 
 are habits of mind, which God requires in the 
 children of wrath, previously to their being made 
 children of grace in Baptism. Infants, therefore, in 
 this respect stand ])rccisely on the same footing 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 101 
 
 Avitli worthy adults; and there is no more reason for 
 supposing that God discriminates between different 
 infants, than that He discriminates between adults, 
 who are equally endowed with faith and repentance. 
 Our Saviour at least seems to have allowed the 
 worthiness of young children to partake of God's 
 grace, when He blessed them, and affirmed that of 
 such is the kingdom of heaven '. And our Church 
 openly acknowledges it, when she exhorts us not to 
 doubt of their being " favourably received V' in other 
 words, " regenerated by God," on the very ground that 
 our Saviour had " blessed them and exhorted all men 
 to follow their innocency." Those pious writers ap- 
 ])ear to have reasoned more justly, who have argued 
 that, if God regenerates the greatest sinners when 
 they repent of their sins, much more will He regene- 
 rate those infants who have no actual sins to repent 
 of, and are only involved in the consequences of 
 another's transgression ^ 
 
 ' Mark x. 13. 
 
 ^ Office for Public Baptism — Exhortation upon the Gospel. 
 
 ' Caeterum si homines impedire aliquid ad gratiae consecuti- 
 onem posset, raagis adultos et provectos et majores natu possent 
 impedire graviora peccata. Porro autem si etiam gravissimis 
 delictoribus, et in Deum multum ante peccantibus, cum postea 
 crediderint, remissa peccatorum datur, et a Baptismo atque a 
 gratia nemo prohibetur : quanto magis prohiberi non debet 
 infans, qui recens natus nihil peccavit, nisi quod secundum 
 Adam carnaliter natus, contagium mortis antiquae prima nativi- 
 tate contraxit ? qui ad remissam peccatorum accipiendum, hoc 
 ipso facilius accedit, quod illi remittuntur non propria sed aliena 
 peccata? Cyprian, Ep. 65 ad Fidum, p. 161. 
 
102 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 Attempts have been made to defend this mode of 
 explaining the language of our baptismal offices from 
 other passages of the Liturgy, in which the same 
 principle is said to be acted upon. We have seen 
 already that examples taken from the Common 
 Prayers of the congregation are altogether inap- 
 plicable to the case before us. Indeed the only pas- 
 sages alleged, which bear any appearance of analogy 
 to the language of these offices, are taken from the 
 Catechism and the Burial Service. 
 
 In the Catechism the Child is taught to say, that 
 he learns from the articles of his Creed to " believe 
 in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth him, and all 
 the elect people of God." " If then," it is urged, 
 " it is absurd to imagine that our Church deems 
 every child who repeats his Catechism really one of 
 God's elect people, and truly sanctified by the Holy 
 Ghost, it is no less absurd to contend that it sup- 
 poses every baptized infant to be actually regene- 
 rated. Consequently both these passages must be 
 explained on the principle of general lang-uage." 
 The truth is, that our Church considers every child 
 who repeats this sentence as one of God's elect 
 people, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, upon the 
 assured })ersuasi(m that he was regenerated, or made 
 a child of God, and declared one of his elect people, 
 in Baptism: and it reasonably supposes that a 
 Christian of that age, who is enjoying the benefits 
 of religious instruction, has done nothing hitherto 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. J 03 
 
 to deprive him of that state of salvation to which he 
 was then called, and that sanctification of the Spirit, 
 of which he was then made partaker. 
 
 The passages quoted from the Burial Service 
 seem to be strangely misapprehended. We yield 
 thanks to God " that it hath pleased Him to 
 take to Himself the soul of our departed brother, 
 and to deliver him from the miseries of this sinful 
 w^orld :" and " we commit his body to the earth, in 
 sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal 
 life." We may, therefore, it is said, contend Mith 
 as good reason, that in the opinion of our Church 
 every brother committed to the earth has passed into 
 a state of happiness, and will partake of the resurrec- 
 tion of life, as that it supposes every baptized infant 
 to be actually regenerate. And these are produced 
 as examples of generalized language, comj^letely 
 parallel to the passages that have been quoted from 
 our baptismal offices. 
 
 But the fact is, that the Church passes no judg- 
 ment whatever upon the state of our departed 
 brother. We declare our own full persuasion of the 
 truth of the Christian doctrine of the resurrection 
 to eternal life, and we thank God in the language 
 of pious and grateful submission that He has taken 
 to Himself the soul of our brother, and delivered 
 him out of the miseries of this sinful world : but 
 the only allusion which we make to his present 
 condition is a charitable hope that he rests in 
 
104 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 Christ \ But it will scarcely be contended that 
 there is any analogy between a mere charitable 
 hope, and an unequivocal and authoritative declara- 
 tion, or a thanksgiving for mercies actually re- 
 ceived. 
 
 If, indeed, the compilers of our Liturgy had 
 thought that only some infants are born again in 
 Baptism, they were men of too much honesty and 
 simplicity of character to employ what cannot be 
 called ambiguous, but delusive and dangerous lan- 
 guage. They were not tied down to technical 
 forms, or what has been called baptismal phraseology ^ 
 but were at full liberty to frame these offices upon 
 their own principles, and to couch them in such 
 language as M^as best calculated to express their 
 real sentiments. This they have done with perfect 
 simplicity and good faith, and have set forth their 
 own belief, and the belief of their forefathers in 
 Christianity, without verbal ambiguity or mental 
 reserve. 
 
 It is contended likewise that the Prayers of our 
 Church for the circumcision of the spirit, and for 
 the creation of a new heart, are in point of fact 
 
 ^ " We meekly beseech thee, O Father, to raise us from the 
 death of sin to the life of righteousness, that when we depart 
 hence we may rest in him, as our hoj.e is this our brother doth." 
 Burial Service. 
 
 If there is any ambiguity in the other expressions quoted from 
 this Service, it appears to be sufficiently cleared up and removed 
 by this passage. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 105 
 
 Prayers for Regeneration ; and, consequently, that 
 it is as reasonable to maintain that the Church con- 
 siders all Christians unregenerate, as that she con- 
 siders all baptized persons regenerate. But it has 
 been sufficiently shown that in Scripture and in the 
 doctrinal language of the Church, Regeneration and 
 the circumcision of the heart are spoken of as 
 graces entirely distinct in theory. The word. Re- 
 generation, in the popular sense which it has ac- 
 quired, is indeed equivalent to those phrases ; but 
 the word is never used in our Liturgy otherwise 
 than in its strict theological acceptation. 
 
 Much stress has been laid upon a passage of the 
 Homilies, in which the words regenerate ^ and re- 
 
 ' Homily for Whitsunday, 430. — See Archbishop Laurence's 
 Doctrine, &c. part i. c. vi. p. 75, &c. 
 
 The Archbishop of Cashel observes, that in this passage " the 
 word regeneratmi is used loosely and largely as blended with its 
 usual effects, the object of the writer being to treat of regeneration 
 and sanctification united — comprehending not only the commence- 
 ment, but also the completion of sanctification, and even the 
 miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of the 
 Prophets and Apostles." 
 
 The Homilies of the Church, with the exception of the Homily 
 of Salvation, which is composed in a more scholastic form, and 
 was intended to give a correct statement of a controverted doc- 
 trine, are popular discourses, written for the edification of the 
 people in a rhetorical way, and therefore must be read with those 
 allowances which are due to popular compositions. 
 
 Bishop Montague, in his Appeal to Caesar, has some just and 
 sensible remarks on these writings of our Church. 
 
 " First, I willingly admit the Homilies as containing certain 
 godly and wholesome exhortations to move the people to honour 
 
106 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 generation are introduced without any immediate 
 reference to Bajjtism. But in this passage, ex- 
 
 and worship Almighty God : but not as the public dogmatical 
 resolutions of the Church of England. The 35th Article giveth 
 them to contain godly and wholesome doctrine, and necessary 
 for these times : which they may do though they have not dog- 
 matical positions, or doctrine to be propugned and subscribed in 
 all and every point : as the Books of Articles and Common 
 Prayer have. They seem, secondly, to speak somewhat too 
 hardly, and to stretch some sayings beyond the use and practice 
 of the Church of England : and yet what they say may receive 
 a fair construction and mitigation. In very Scripture there are 
 many hyperbolical sayings, that, being literally taken, will not 
 hold weight in the balance of the Sanctuary. In the writings of 
 the Fathers there are dogmatical conclusions for resolution in 
 points, and rhetorical enforcements to edify affections, disposed 
 for and according to the auditory. Now our Homilies are popu- 
 lar sermons, fitted to the capacities of the common people, to 
 edify them, to work upon them, ever strong in passion, but weak 
 in understanding. We may do well to consider them, why, 
 wherefore, when and to what manner of men these popular 
 sermons were made and did speak ; and not j^ress every passage 
 hand over head, for advantage. I rest in that judgment which 
 our Church has passed upon them, where it is said, in terminis 
 — They contain a godly and a wholesome doctrine, necessary for 
 these times, the times in which and for which they were especially 
 made." Appeal, p. 260. 
 
 It has been contended that our Church does not maintain that 
 all infants are regenerated in Baptism, because in the same 
 Homily all its members are directed to examine themselves 
 whether they are regenerate or not. But this is not the fact. 
 For though the word regenerate is used loosely in this Homily, 
 the distinction between the new birth and the abiding influence of 
 the Spirit is nevertheless laid down, and men are not taught to 
 inquire whether they have been born again, but whether the Holy 
 Ghost is dwelling in them. 
 
 " Such is the power of the Holy Ghost to regenerate men, 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 107 
 
 tracted from a popular discourse, the word is used 
 in a popular and rhetorical manner, including the 
 miraculous and extraordinary operations of the Holy 
 Ghost upon the human soul. Nothing however will 
 be gained in the way of legitimate inference, by 
 arguing from the popular to the strict signification 
 of words, and attempting to neutralize their plain 
 and unambio^uous meanino^ through the medium of 
 their fio-urative usances. 
 
 Having now shown that the attemjits which have 
 been made to accommodate the Services of our 
 Church to a theory which dissolves the connection 
 between Regeneration and Baptism wdll not bear 
 the test of examination, but are merely expedients 
 to get rid of a difficulty which presses upon the 
 advocates of another system, I will, before I close 
 this Chapter, add a few considerations, which may 
 be useful to my younger brethren in the IMinistry, 
 and to those who are Candidates for the Sacred 
 Office. 
 
 The Services of our Church, connected with this 
 question, are formed on the principles and ex- 
 
 and as it were to bring them forth anew, so that they shall be 
 nothing like the men that they were before. 
 
 " Neither doth he think it sufficient inwardly to work the 
 spiritual and new birth of man, unless he do also dwell and abide 
 in him." Then after proving this point from Scripture, it adds, 
 " O but how shall I know that the Holy Ghost is in me? some 
 man perchance will say : Forsooth as the tree is known by its 
 fruits, so is the Holy Ghost." 
 
108 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 pressed in the laiiguage of the ancient Christians, 
 and assert in the most unequivocal manner their 
 doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism. That every 
 baptized person, with the exception of unworthy 
 adults, is born again of water and of the Spirit in 
 this Sacrament, is an opinion which they affirm in a 
 way level to every capacity. If therefore the 
 Ministers of our Church should propagate from the 
 pulpit opinions widely different from those which 
 they teach, when they are . ministering the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptism, let them consider what confusion 
 they will jDroduce in the minds of their hearers ; 
 what distrust in themselves, or in the Church whose 
 Ministers they are. But, what is perhaps still 
 worse, the desire to reconcile these services to 
 doctrines entirely at variance with them, ^vill tend 
 to impair the sincerity and simplicity of their own 
 minds, by giving them a taste for that unnatural and 
 artificial mode of interpretation, to which an attach- 
 ment to preconceived opinions too frequently gives 
 entertamment. We are told that these services 
 make use of a general phraseology, or of hypo- 
 thetical language, and expressions of hope and 
 charity. But plain sense, sober criticism, and 
 historical research, refute these artificial attempts 
 to affix to them a meaning, very different from that 
 which they bear at first sight, and foreign from the 
 views and principles on which they were originally 
 constructed. Our Liturgy speaks a plain, simple, 
 
 1 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 109 
 
 and ingeniions language, " adapted to popular com- 
 prehension and instruction^:" and the attempts, to 
 which system has had recourse, to Mrest it from its 
 genuine and native meaning, may act as beacons ^ 
 and warnings to the inexperienced, and teach them 
 that it is a dangerous experiment to tamper with its 
 literal construction. " There is nothing," says 
 Hooker, " more dangerous than this licentious and 
 deluding art, which changeth the meaning of words 
 as alchymy doth or would do the substance of me- 
 tals, maketh of any thing what it listeth, and 
 bringeth in the end all truth to nothing." 
 
 Archbishop Laurence, 
 
110 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THE THEORY OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 In inquiring into the doctrinal views of onr Church 
 on the subject of Re eneration in Baptism, we have 
 seen to what conchisions we are led by the direct 
 and unsophisticated explanation of its Pubhc Offices, 
 and what kind of machinery has been employed in 
 order to invalidate these conclusions. On the one 
 side, the construction of the Offices, and the sense 
 which results from them, are obvious to the plainest 
 understanding. On the other, they are subjected to 
 the ordeal of a forced and unnatural interpretation, 
 principles are resorted to which are inapplicable to 
 the cases before us, and analogies are insisted on, 
 which have scarcely the shadow of any proportion or 
 point of agreement. We have seen likewise that 
 the doctrine which our services contain, according to 
 the most obvious and accustomed principles of inter- 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IX BAPTISM. 1 1 I 
 
 pretation, is precisely Avhat we might have expected 
 from the views and professions of their compilers. 
 For it is in complete accordance with the opinions 
 of Catholic Christianity, from the days of the 
 Apostles to the time of the Reformation. It came 
 before them, not as a doubtful and disputed point, 
 but as a fundamental and established truth ; not 
 asserted and defended by a few Doctors and Apo- 
 logists as their own private opinion, but recorded or 
 alluded to, as a doctrine received without contra- 
 diction in the Church of Christ, by the whole body 
 of Fathers, Councils, and Ecclesiastical Historians. 
 And we have seen on what strong and pregnant 
 testimonies of Scripture this doctrine dejDends, and 
 how little support its opponents derive from those 
 texts which they have brought forward to contro- 
 vert it. 
 
 Here then the question might well rest. For when 
 the debate relative to the sense of our Offices has been 
 brought to such an issue as appears to amount to a 
 moral demonstration, and the Scriptural view of the 
 doctrine has been investigated and ascertained, it 
 may seem superfluous to inquire farther into the 
 theory of this doctrine, or any other views and 
 theories of Regeneration. Since however this 
 opinion has been often charged with unreason- 
 ableness, and loaded with a strange variety of absurd 
 and formidable consequences, I shall enter a little 
 
112 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 more particularly into its theory ; explaining dis- 
 tinctly the nature of the change implied by the 
 word Regeneration, and endeavouring to point out 
 some probable grounds and reasons of our Saviour's 
 institution, and of the close connection which he has 
 established by his word and i^romise between Bap- 
 tism and spiritual Regeneration. 
 
 That every good gift and cverij ijerfed gift is from 
 above, and cometh down from the Father of lights^, is a 
 truth not less agreeable to reason, than plainly in- 
 culcated in Scripture. But the spiritual gifts and 
 blessings, which we refer back to God as their author 
 and giver, are of two kinds, distinct in theory, and 
 separated by a broad line of demarcation. Some 
 are pure acts of God's special grace and bounty, 
 which, though they usually require certain quali- 
 fications on man's part to prepare him for the recep- 
 tion of them, exclude at once every notion of human 
 co-operation. To these acts of grace we can assign 
 no parts nor latitude, for they appear, at least to our 
 judgment, to take place at some determinate point 
 of time, and to be incapable of increase. Such 
 appears to be the nature not only of the forgiveness 
 of our sins, but of that justification in the sight of 
 God which accompanies it. Faith, repentance, the 
 renunciation of our sins, resolutions of obedience, 
 
 ' James i. 17. 
 
I 
 
 DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. ] 13 
 
 and the forgiveness of other men's trespasses, are 
 qualifications which we must possess to prepare arid 
 fit us for these blessings. The necessity of faith is 
 moreover pressed upon us, not only as a qualification 
 for pardon and acceptance, but as that act of mind 
 which closes with God's offers and terms of grace, 
 pleads in our behalf his merciful promises, and the 
 atonement and merits of our blessed Saviour, and 
 renounces all other grounds of confidence and de- 
 pendence. But forgiveness itself and justification 
 in God's sight are pure acts of grace, to which the 
 sinner can contribute nothing : for, as the Jews 
 justly argued, none canfoi-give sins but God only ', and 
 none but God can place a reprieved sinner on the 
 same footing with a righteous man. Arguing like- 
 Mi se from the analogy of human proceedings, we 
 have reason to think that pardon, and the imputa- 
 tion of righteousness which is annexed to it, are 
 grants of mercy bestowed upon the sinner at some 
 particular point of time, and that though the jus- 
 tified person must grow in grace, must advance more 
 and more in God's favour and those spiritual accom- 
 plishments which con-espond to it, forgiveness itself 
 is a simple act, without parts or latitude, and in course 
 incapable of increase. 
 
 But there are other gifts or blessings of a spiritual 
 kind, emanating from God, and referred upward to 
 
 ' Mark ii. 7. Luke v. 21. 
 1 
 
114 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 Him as their principal cause, which imply in their 
 very nature increase and progressive advances, 
 proceeding onward from potential principles and 
 dispositions, to active principles and habits, and re- 
 quiring in all their stages the co-operation of man 
 with the grace and inspiration of God. They are, 
 therefore, spoken of in Scripture sometimes as the 
 gifts of God, sometimes as the duties of man ; and 
 this way of treating them plainly signifies that, as 
 our endeavours to attain and perfect these Christian 
 virtues will be ineffectual without the grace of God, 
 so, in the ordinary course of his dispensations, he 
 will not continue his gifts to us, unless we endea- 
 vour to make a right use of them by exercising 
 them in their proper spheres and functions. Hence, 
 in the language of promise and encouragement, and 
 of devotion and gratitude, these Christian habits or 
 virtues are spoken of as exclusively the gifts of 
 God : in the language of exhortation and religious 
 instruction, and in the systematic exposition of 
 Christian doctrine, they are spoken of as duties 
 which God, if man is not wanting to himself, 
 will enable him to fulfil. Of this sort are faith, 
 hope, and charity, mortification and self-denial, the 
 circumcision of tlie heart, and the renewal of the 
 spirit of the mind — in short, all those virtues or 
 graces, which have their seat in the intellectual and 
 moral nature of man, admit of degrees, and are 
 capable of improvement. For these are (to use 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 115 
 
 the language of Waterlaiid) " the joint work of the 
 Spirit and the man :" and therefore in Scripture they 
 are sometimes promised us as gifts, or spoken of as 
 the issues of God's bounty ; at other times they are 
 expressly required of us as duties, which we owe to 
 God and our own souls. 
 
 Such being the broad line of distinction between 
 those blessings, which are pure and unmixed acts of 
 God's special grace, and those Christian habits or 
 virtues in whose formation and increase man must 
 bear his part, it is scarcely necessary to say that, 
 according to the principles of our own Church and 
 of the ancient Christians, Regeneration is a pure act 
 of God's special grace, immanent in Himself and 
 terminating in man, limited and determined to a 
 particular time, and incapable of latitude and in- 
 crease. For according to these principles Regene- 
 ration consists in the forgiveness of sin, ' the gift, 
 
 ' Plane eadem gratia spiritalis, quae aequaliter in Baptismo a 
 credentibus sumitur, in conversatione atque actu nostro post 
 modum vel minuitur vel augetur. Cyprian Epist. ad Magnum, 
 69. P. 187. 
 
 Again, in the same Epistle, in which he is defending the bap- 
 tism of those who were called Clinici, that is, who were baptized 
 in their beds, when their lives were in danger, he says — An con- 
 secuti sunt quidem gratiam dominicam, sed breviore et minore 
 mensura muneris divini ac Spiritus Sancti ? Q,uin imo Spiritus 
 Sanctus non de mensura datur, sed super credentera totus effun- 
 ditur. Nam si dies omnibus aequaliter nascitur, et si Sol super 
 omnes pari et sequali luce difFunditur, quanto magis Christus, Sol 
 et dies verus, in Ecclesia sua lumen vitae aeternae pari aequalitate 
 largitur. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 or earnest, or covenanted consignation of the influ- 
 ence of the Holy Ghost, considered independently of 
 its moral operations, and legitimate effects; and a 
 title to eternal life depending on the performance 
 of certain stipulated conditions. Now, though no 
 adult can partake of these blessings without being 
 previously qualified by faith and repentance, it is 
 certain that they are mere acts of free grace and 
 mercy, which must, as far as we can judge, be made 
 over to the soul at some determinate moment, and 
 admit of no immediate exercise of the moral nature 
 of man, and that principle of self-action which God 
 has implanted in us. But om- own Church, in con- 
 formity to the doctrine of Scripture, and the opinion 
 of Christian antiquity \ determines this grant of 
 
 ^ Neque enim parva res haereticis et modica conceditur, quando 
 a nobis baptisma eorum in acceptum refertur : cum inde incipiat 
 omnis fidei origo, et purificandis et sanctificandis Dei servis divina 
 dignatio. Nam si baptizari quis apud haereticos potuit, utique 
 et remissam peccatorum consequi potuit. Si peccatorum rerais- 
 sam consecutus est, et sanctificatus est et templum Dei factus. 
 Cyp. Ep. 73. ad Jubaianum. 
 
 Et quoniam Stephanus et qui illi consentiunt contendunt 
 dimissionem peccatorum, et secundam nativitatem in haereticorum 
 baptismo procedere posse, apud quos ipsi confitentur Spiritum 
 Sanctum non esse, considerent et intelligant spiritalem nativi- 
 tatem sine Spiritu Sancto esse non posse. Firmilianus Cypriano. 
 Ep. 75. 
 
 Stephanus concedit illis non modicam sed maximam gratiae 
 potestatem, ut dicat eos per baptismi sacramentum sordes veteris 
 bominis abluere, antiquae mortis peccata donare, regeneratione 
 ccelesti filios Dei facere, ad aeternam vitam divini lavacri sancti- 
 licatione reparare. Id. Si 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 117 
 
 grace to the season of our Baptism, under a full 
 conviction that when this Sacrament is administered 
 agreeably to Christ's institution, man receives the 
 forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Ghost 
 through its intervention and instrumentality. Theo- 
 logians, indeed, both ancient and modern, some- 
 times describe this change in strong language, and 
 make use of expressions which must be taken in a 
 qualified sense. But when divested of rhetorical 
 amplification, they will be found to convey the 
 same notions and to exhibit the same view of the 
 doctrine of baptismal Regeneration, as are the 
 result of sober inquiry and dispassionate discus- 
 sion. 
 
 This view of the nature of regeneration cannot 
 be better expressed than in the words of Hooker. 
 
 Si baptisma haereticorum habere potest lavacrum secundae 
 nativitatis, non haeretici sed filii Dei computandi sunt, qui apud 
 eos baptizantur. Secunda enim nativitas, quas est in baptismo, 
 filios Deo generat. Id. '^ / 
 
 The argument of Cyprian and his adherents against the validity 
 of heretical baptism, proceeds upon the assumption that Christ- 
 ians are bom again, and receive forgiveness of sin and the Holy 
 Ghost in Baptism. Augustin's opinion on this question has 
 been already alluded to. 
 
 Augustin referring to 1 Cor. iii. 1. 16, says, 
 
 Vide quae dicat mala de ignorantise malo venientia. Et puto 
 quod non de Catechumenis ista dicebat. Parvuli quippe in Christo 
 quo modo essent, nisi jam renati essent ? Quod si nondum 
 credas, quid eis post pauca dicat attende. Nescitis quia templum 
 Dei estis, et Spiritus Sanctus habitat in vobis ? An adhuc du- 
 bitabis vel negabis, non eos potuisse esse templum Dei, in quo 
 habitaret Spiritus Dei, nisi baptizatos 'i 
 
 •^. 
 
118 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 " Baptism is a Sacrament which God liath instituted 
 in his Church to the end that they which receive 
 the same might thereby be incorporated into Christ ; 
 and so through his most precious merits obtain as 
 well that saving grace of imputation, which taketh 
 away all former guiltiness, as also that infused 
 divine virtue of the Holy Ghost, which giveth to 
 the powers of the soul their first disposition towards 
 future newness of life \" Later systems indeed 
 
 ' Hooker's Eccles. Polity, B. v. § 60. 
 
 This passage has been sometimes quoted to prove the very 
 reverse of what Hooker teaches : viz. that Regeneration precedes 
 Baptism in qualified adults. Hooker, however, without exclud- 
 ing the preparatory action of the Holy Ghost on the soul, affirms, 
 in common with all the ancient Christians, that his divine virtue 
 is first infused into, or consigned over to, the human soul in 
 Baptism. Nor does he mean hy future newness of life the whole 
 change of the inward frame, which must commence in adults 
 previous to Baptism, but that newness of life, or covenanted state 
 of holiness, which commences with the forgiveness of sin. For 
 the new life of Christians is always supposed to date from their 
 New Birth, that is, from their Baptism. Archbishop Laurence's 
 observation, that the word disposition is a Latinism, and signifies 
 the arrangement, or setting in order of the parts of the soul, may 
 be illustrated by a quotation from Thomas Aquinas, which occurs 
 in the Apology for the Augsburgh Confession. 
 
 Peccatum originis habet privationem originalis justitiae, et cum 
 hoc inordinatam dispositionem partium animce, unde non est pri- 
 vatio pura, sed quidam habitus corruptus. Melancthonis Opera, 
 vol. i. folio, p. 61. 
 
 Hooker seems to be expressing himself in the same figurative 
 way as Aquinas. He contemplates the divine virtue of the Holy 
 Ghost, infused into the soul in Baptism, as beginning from that 
 time to arrange and restore to order those parts of it which had 
 been thrown into disorder and confusion by the fall. Perhaps, 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 1 19 
 
 have obtruded upon us very different notions of 
 Regeneration, excluding from its definition, what 
 the ancients principally insisted on, the forgiveness 
 of sin, and substituting for this earnest of the Spirit 
 or infusion of the divine virtue of the Holy Ghost, 
 the scholastic fancy of an implantation of habits or 
 of a turning point from evil to good, attended with 
 a radical change of all the parts and faculties of the 
 soul. But these notions are no better than fanciful 
 speculations, inconsistent with Scriptural truth and 
 simplicity, the experience of human nature, and the 
 frame and constitution of the human soul. 
 
 Three things are to be considered in Baptism — V 
 The qualifications which it requires, the act of 
 grace which it conveys, and the engagements and 
 obligations which it imposes. In adults faith and 
 repentance are required as qualifications, and these 
 spiritual acts necessarily suppose the preventing and 
 co-operating grace of God. It is however the de- 
 cided doctrine of the Church that the convert is 
 regenerated in Baptism, and then, and not till then, 
 receives remission of his sins, and the covenanted 
 grant or infused virtue of the Holy Ghost : and 
 that infants, who can possess no positive qualifi- 
 cations, partake in their measure and proportion of 
 the same blessings ; receive remission of their sins 
 by spiritual Regeneration, and are washed and 
 
 however, his phraseology may be grounded on the common 
 ethical distinction between dispositions and habits. 
 
120 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 sanctified with the Holy Ghost '." But though in- 
 fants are endowed with this infused virtue and mys- 
 terious earnest of the Holy Spirit, his active in- 
 fluences and operations appear to be commensurate 
 with our natural faculties. In enlisfhteninof the 
 understanding and forming the moral habits, he 
 follows the order of intellectual and moral causes, 
 proportioning his effects to the expanding and 
 elastic qualities, and the corresponding exertions 
 and activity of the human mind ^ In the case of 
 
 ' Dicimus ergo in baptizatis parvulis, quamvis id nesciunt, 
 habitare Spiritum Sanctum ; sic enim eum nesciunt, quamvis sit 
 in eis, quemadmodum et nesciunt mentem suam, cujus in eis 
 ratio, qua uti nondum possunt, velut quasdam scintilla sopita est, 
 excitanda aetatis accessu. Augustin, Ep. 57. 
 
 Hagc gratia baptizatos etiam parvulos corpori suo inserit — dat 
 etiam sui Spiritus occultissimam fidelibus gratiam, quam latenter 
 infundit et parvulis. De Peccat. Mar. et Remiss. C 9. 
 
 ^ Having quoted a passage from Augustin — Oportet igitur ut 
 Sacramento regenerationis, ne sine illo male de hac vita exeat, 
 etiam parvulus imbuatur : quod non fit nisi in remissione 
 peccatorum. Dr. Ward adds. 
 
 Ex hoc loco constat juxta Augustinum primitias renovationis 
 habere parvulos a remissione peccatorum in Baptismo ; ipsam 
 vero renovationem, quag gradatim perficitur, et sanctificationem 
 non habere. Certe videtur statuere adasquatum Baptismi af- 
 fectum in parvulis esse illam renovationem quae fit sola 
 remissione peccatorum : alteram autem renovationem, quae fit ad 
 imaginem Dei, non incipere nisi eo tempore quo fit conversio 
 cordis. 
 
 But we have seen in the last note, that Augustin holds that the 
 Holy Ghost is bestovk^ed on infants in Baptism, though his practical 
 effects upon the heart and habits do not, and cannot, as it would 
 seem, in the nature of things, commence till afterwards. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 121 
 
 infants, therefore, the Spirit of grace, which is de- 
 signed to be a principle of spiritual life, is merely a 
 potential principle: or, to speak perhaps more 
 properly, the Holy Ghost does not, as it would 
 seem, begin to act upon the soul by calling into 
 play its latent good dispositions, till there are 
 materials on which to act ; and, so far as we can 
 judge by experience, till those means of grace are 
 resorted to on man's part, to which his abiding and 
 practical influences are promised and tied down. 
 Hence, when religious instruction and moral disci- 
 pline are neglected. Regeneration in Baptism is 
 productive of no practical effects. The infused 
 virtue of the Holy Ghost is, to speak in the mildest 
 terms, dormant and inactive : the soul continues in 
 its natural state of darkness and ignorance, and that 
 infection of nature, which remains in the regenerate, 
 experiences no check from the supernatural and 
 remedial principle. At other times, as children 
 advance onward in life, evil dispositions and unruly 
 passions, or the influence of worldly customs and bad 
 examples, counteract the effects of discipline and 
 instruction, and that power of the Spirit, which at- 
 tends upon them. 
 
 If indeed it were a self-evident truth that Rege- 
 neration is an implantation of a habit of grace, con- 
 taining in it the habits of all Christian graces or 
 virtues, or that it is a radical change of all the 
 parts and faculties of the soul, it might be absurd 
 
1*22 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 to suppose that those infants who, as they grow up, 
 exhibit no signs of spiritual habits or dispositions, 
 have been regenerated in Baptism. But that 
 sound and masculine theology, which our Church 
 has adopted, knows nothing of these specula- 
 tions. It is to be regretted indeed that those 
 writers who have descanted on the unreasonableness 
 of our doctrine, have not been at the pains to 
 inquire what those opinions are, which they have 
 taxed with so many absurdities and contradictions : 
 and that they have never been tempted to look a 
 little more narrowly into the reasonableness of their 
 own theory. 
 
 We find indeed in the writings of the Fathers 
 glowing and animated descriptions of the effects of 
 Baptism on adult converts ^ But they contain 
 
 * Ego cum in tenebris atque in nocte caeca jacerem, cumque in 
 salo jactantis seculi nutabundus ac dubius, vestigiis oberrantibus 
 fluctuarem ; vitae meae nescius, veritatis ac lucis alienus ; difficile 
 prorsus ac durum pro illis tunc moribus opinabar, quod in 
 salutem mihi divina indulgentia poUicebatur, ut quis renasci 
 denuo possit ; utque in novam vitam lavacro aquae salutaris 
 animatus, quod prius fuerat, exponeret ; et corporis licet manente 
 compage, hominem animo ac mente mutaret. Qui possibilis, 
 aiebam, est tanta conversio, ut repente ac perniciter exuatur 
 quod genuinum situ materiae naturalis obduruit, vel usurpatum 
 diu senio vetustatis inolevit? — Sed postquam undae genitalis 
 auxilio superioris aevi labe detersa, in expiatum pectus ac purum 
 desuper se lumen infudit ; postquam ccelitus Spiritu liausto, in 
 novum me hominem nativitas secunda reparavit ; rairum in 
 raodum protinus confirmare se dubia, patere clausa, lucere 
 tenebrosa ; facultateni dare quod prius difficile videbatur ; geri 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 123 
 
 nothing inconsistent with the simple Scriptural 
 truth, nor with the moral nature and rational 
 faculties of man. For it is reasonable to suppose 
 that when the Spirit is consigned over to pious 
 converts, He will exert an influence on their inward 
 fi-ame proportioned to their faith and charity, and 
 the sincerity and zeal of their Christian purposes. 
 And we may easily persuade ourselves that the con- 
 vert himself, who returns from the laver under a full 
 conviction that his sins are washed away, that he 
 has been sealed with the Spirit as God's child and 
 peculiar property, and that the Holy Ghost has been 
 bestowed upon him for a helpmate and sojourner, 
 will feel as it were a load removed from him, and a 
 spring and elasticity communicated to his whole 
 soul ; and that he will enter on the discharge of his 
 Christian duties with tenfold vigour and activity. 
 But these descriptions, when stripped of rhetorical 
 colouring, do not convey the notion of the instan- 
 taneous transformation of the moral nature, an 
 infusion of habits, or a radical change of the parts 
 and faculties of the soul. The maxim of these 
 Christians was — according to thy faith be it done unto 
 
 posse quod prius impossibile putabatur ut esset ; agnoscere 
 terrenum fuisse quod prius carnaliter natuin delictis obnoxium 
 viveret ; Dei esse coepisse, quod jam Spiritus Sanctus animaret. 
 Scis ipse profecto et mecum pariter recognoscis, quid detraxerit 
 nobis, quidve contulerit mors ista criminum, vita virtutum. 
 Cyprian ad Donatum, p. 2, 3. 
 
124 
 
 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 thee ' — and they believed, with equal wisdom and 
 piety, that the moral effects of the Holy Ghost 
 upon the soul, both in and after Baptism, are pro- 
 portioned to the faith and religious exertions of the 
 convert himself 
 
 As to the engagements which are contracted in 
 Baptism, they are equally binding on all recipients, 
 whether baptized in infancy or riper years, for 
 they are the conditions on which our continuance 
 in that state of salvation, to which we have been 
 called, absolutely depends. But no one is pro- 
 nounced regenerate on the presumption that those 
 
 * Nostrum tantum sitiat pectus ac pateat : quantum illic fidei 
 capacis afferimus, tantum gratiae inundantis haurimus. Cyprian 
 ad Donatum, p. 4. 
 
 Caeterum si tu innocentiae, si justitise viam teneas, si illapsa 
 firmitate vestigii tui incedas, si in Deum viribus totis, ac toto 
 corde suspensus ; hoc sis tantum quod esse coepisti : tantum tibi 
 ad licentiam datur, quantum gratiae spiritalis augetur. Do. p. 3. 
 — i. e. tantum potes, quantum credis. 
 
 Quales nos fecit secunda nativitate, tales vult renatos perse- 
 verare. Cyprian de Or. Dom. p. 149. 
 
 Hoc etiam secundum (idem Catholicam credimus, quod 
 accepta per Baptismum gratia, omnes baptizati, Christo co- 
 operante et adjuvante, quae ad salutem pertineant possint ac 
 debeant, si fideliter laborare voluerint, adimplere. Cone. 
 Aurisiacum. Expressing the general sense of the Christian 
 Churches. 
 
 Sit tantum timor innocentiae custos, ut qui in mentes nostras 
 indulgentiae coelestis allapsu clementer Dominus infulsit, in 
 animi oblectantis hospitio justa operatione teneatur : ne accepta 
 securitas indiligentiam pariat, et vetus denuo hostis obrepat. 
 Cyp. ad Don. p. 3. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION 1\ BAPTISM. 125 
 
 engagements will be performed. It has, indeed, 
 been confidently affirmed, in opposition to the tenets 
 of our Church and Scripture, that true grace is in- 
 defectible; that no man, therefore, is regenerated 
 in Baptism who does not keep his baptismal con- 
 tract ; and, consequently, that habitual holiness is 
 the only test of spiritual Regeneration. We, how- 
 ever, do not imagine, that God regenerates our 
 infants on principles of favoritism and caprice, be- 
 cause Baptism is too frequently unproductive of prac- 
 tical and saving effects, but we ascribe this failing 
 to human neo^li^ence and default. Thouofh the 
 stipulations of the sponsors, as proxies for children, 
 are rather a pious and salutary custom of the 
 Church, than a necessary part of Baptism, every 
 baptized person virtually contracts the engagements 
 which those stipulations contain; and parents and 
 guardians of infants are bound, without any formal 
 professions, to second and promote the good work 
 which God has begun in them, by religious instruc- 
 tion and moral discipline. For the child of God is 
 necessarily trusted in his early years to the care and 
 institution of human parents, and it depends much 
 on their vigilance and faithfulness to their trust, 
 whether that Spirit which has been consigned over to 
 him in Baptism shall remain dormant, or be brought 
 forth into play and activity ; whether he shall be 
 spiritually born only, or shall grow up in habits of 
 spirituality and holiness. 
 
1'26 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 There are, however, persons who think that this 
 necessary connection between Baptism and Rege- 
 neration, which results from the obvious construc- 
 tion of Scripture and our baptismal Offices, is 
 untenable upon principles of reason. In their 
 opinion, common sense forbids us to suppose that 
 Baptism, which is the work of man upon the body, 
 is ordinarily accompanied with Regeneration, which 
 is the work of God upon the soul ; or that the 
 sprinkling of the human body with water can be 
 followed by a change of this magnitude and im- 
 portance. But surely it becomes us rather to accept 
 God's boons and bounties, in the way which He has 
 prescribed, with humility and thankfulness, than to 
 bring His ordinances and revelations to the standard 
 of our own reason. If a doctrine has no foundation 
 in Scripture, or is only built on a feiv obscure pas- 
 sages, whilst it is contradicted by tlie ivhole tenour 
 and current of Holy Writ, these are good grounds 
 for its rejection ; and we shall generally jBnd that 
 the support which it seems to derive from Scrip- 
 ture, may be removed by the aid of received and 
 general principles of interpretation. But where a 
 doctrine is in no sense contradictory to reason and 
 experience, where it harmonizes with the whole 
 system of revealed religion, and where the language 
 in which it is contained is plain and intelligible, it 
 has every claim to our assent, and ought not lightly 
 to be called in question. For my own part, I am 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 127 
 
 at a loss to discover, why this doctrine is more 
 unreasonable than the doctrines of original sin, the 
 incarnation of the Son of God, atonement by his 
 blood, or the resurrection of the body ; and why it 
 is not to be received wuth the same assurance of 
 faith, and the same freedom from sceptical doubts 
 and ambitious curiosity. 
 
 Yet it often happens, that where we are unable 
 to penetrate into the nature of the truths revealed 
 to us, or to trace out the connection between causes 
 and effects, we can discover some probable pre- 
 sumptions and grounds of reason, which so far as 
 our benefit is intended, and our interest concerned, 
 furnish us with a clue to their propriety and suit- 
 ableness. Some presumptions and probabilities of 
 this kind may be assigned for this institution of our 
 Saviour, and for the close union which He has 
 established by his word and promise between out- 
 ward Baptism and spiritual Regeneration. 
 
 In the first place, this institution is founded upon 
 known principles, and appears to be a benevolent 
 accommodation to the weakness of human nature, 
 and the customs of common life. In all ages and 
 countries, the transfer of property and the convey- 
 ance of grants, privileges, and offices have commonly 
 been attended with some outward signs or sym- 
 bolical actions. Personal freedom, the freedom of 
 cities, magistracies, and even royalty itself, have been 
 conferred in this manner. The sealing or stamping 
 
128 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 of public or private property, legal instruments, 
 investitures, and inaugurations, were forms and cere- 
 monies familiar to the minds of mankind. The 
 same customs had been introduced into the reli- 
 gions of the world. External symbols were tokens 
 of initiation into the mysteries of the pagan deities ; 
 and were used by the Jews in the reception of their 
 proselytes : and God had sanctioned them, by ad- 
 mitting the Israelites to the privileges and promises 
 of the old covenant through the medium of circum- 
 cision. When, therefore, our Saviour adopted the 
 same mode of initiation and investiture, conveying 
 to his disciples the forgiveness of their sins, and the 
 privileges, blessings, and promises of the covenant 
 of grace through means of an outward sign which 
 was already familiar to their minds, and the import 
 of which they well understood, this institution fell 
 in with the views and customs of those persons for 
 whose use it was intended, and was a merciful con- 
 descension to the feelings and habits of mankind. 
 
 In the next place, we must observe, that the 
 leading parts and peculiar doctrines of Christianity 
 are addressed almost exclusively to our faith. 
 Christ's hearers were required to believe, upon 
 the strength of those evidences that were before 
 them, and in direct opposition to their popular 
 prejudices and prepossessions, that he was the 
 Messiah, or he that should come into the world. In 
 the same manner, the doctrines which relate to his 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. J 29 
 
 person and the ])iirposes of his mission, his God- 
 liead and incarnation, redemption, atonement, sanc- 
 tification by his Spirit, the resurrection of the 
 body, and the circumstances of the last judgment, 
 are proposed to our faith ; and the benefit whicli 
 we are to derive from them depends in a great 
 measure upon the stedfastness of our belief in their 
 certainty. What is the exact nature of the union 
 between God and man in our Saviour's person ; how 
 the death of Christ atones for our sins, and purges 
 our consciences from dead works ; by what process 
 the Holy Ghost acts upon the human soul; are 
 questions with which we have no concern. If the 
 truths themselves are plainly revealed in Scripture, 
 and Scripture contains the word of God, we must 
 receive them with the same assurance as if we 
 could analyze and expound them with the most 
 minute accuracy, and penetrate into the secret 
 parts of the divine economy. But the doctrine of 
 Regeneration in Baptism stands precisely on the 
 same footing with these weighty truths, and har- 
 monizes with the whole scheme of revealed reli- 
 gion. It is proposed to our belief, and is intended 
 to be a test and exercise of it : it demands of us 
 the same kind of assent, which we owe to the other 
 peculiar doctrines of Christianity ; and it is our 
 business to believe it in the simplicity with which 
 it is taught us, without attempting to unravel God's 
 mysterious operations on the soul, and without 
 
 K 
 
130 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 being offended at the meanness of the instruments, 
 through which pardon and grace are made over to 
 us. 
 
 But farther. Our Regeneration in Baptism, im- 
 plying this close connection between the grace 
 bestowed and the sign which denotes it, is an act 
 of tenderness and mercy, not less worthy of God's 
 infinite benevolence, than analogous to the whole 
 course of His dealings with man. Goodness, indeed, 
 seems to be the leading feature of His government, 
 and the key to His mysterious dispensations : and 
 those theological systems which straiten His good- 
 ness, and depend principally on abstract views of 
 His sovereignty and glory, will be found on investi- 
 gation to have no foundation in His word, nor in 
 the history and experience of mankind. But if 
 man, considered as an alien from God and a child 
 of wrath, had been left to collect the assurance of 
 adoption into His family and restoration to his favour, 
 in the best way that he was able, without any spe- 
 cific form or positive consignation of these privi- 
 leges and blessings, he would have been placed, as 
 it were, without chart or compass, in a troubled sea 
 of doubt, suspense, and anxiety, and would have 
 been tempted to resort to fanciful and fanatical 
 criterions of sonship and reconciliation. But on 
 the principles which our Church deduces from 
 Scripture, he receives in the sacrament of Baptism 
 such comfortable assurances of God's favour and 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 131 
 
 loving-kindness, as are sufficient, if duly prized and 
 religiously pondered, to bring peace to his mind, 
 and to invigorate his soul to duty. For, on these 
 principles, the convert to the faith of Christ, who 
 receives Baptism rightly, may assure himself, that 
 as certainly as God is true, and his promises in Christ 
 are yea and amen \ so surely he is released from the 
 bond and penalty of his sins, endowed with the 
 earnest of the Holy Ghost, as a principle of new 
 life and holy endeavour, and enrolled among the 
 children of God, and the inheritors of the kingdom 
 of heaven. On the same principles, the parent 
 will "not doubt but earnestly believe" that his 
 child, who was "born in sin and in the wrath of 
 God, is by the laver of Regeneration in Baptism 
 received into the number of His children, and heirs 
 of everlasting life." Here we rest on sure ground. 
 And the very fact that our Regeneration in Bap- 
 tism, as stated and believed by the Church, is a 
 strong evidence of God's goodness and condescen- 
 sion to fallen man, amounts to a presumption of 
 its truth, since, whilst it cannot be charged with 
 unreasonableness, it shows that it is suitable to our 
 wants, and analogous to the general course of the 
 Divine economy. 
 
 Since then this theory of Regeneration, inde- 
 pendently of the paramount authority of Scripture^ 
 
 ' 2 Cor. i. 20. 
 
 k2 
 
]3'2 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 is raised on a foundation of sound sense and sober 
 argument, and is free from every suspicion of unrea- 
 sonableness and absurdity ; and since, without at- 
 tempting to fathom the depths of this mystery of 
 godhness, we can discover some probable grounds 
 and reasons of the connection which our Saviour 
 has established between Baptism and Regeneration, 
 we shall not act wisely if we renounce the faith of 
 our forefathers in Christianity, upon "the mere show 
 of a conceit ;" and exchange it for any of those novel 
 and discordant theories, which the ingenuity of 
 modern theologians has substituted for it. Having 
 learned that he that helieveth and is baptized shall he 
 saved, that Baptism doth save us, that we are saved 
 Inj the washing of Regeneration, and that except a 
 man he horn again of ivater and of the Spirit he 
 cannot enter into the hingdom of God, we shall do 
 well to be contented with the plain and literal 
 interpretation, which our own Church and the 
 ancient Christians have put upon these texts, and 
 the simple and obvious conclusions which they have 
 drawn from them. Some minds may be capti- 
 vated with the theories to which they have attached 
 themselves, and others may find a pleasure in solving 
 problems and difficulties of their own creation. But 
 the plain straight-forward path of Scriptural truth, 
 whilst it presents us with no such objects as can 
 fascinate the imagination, or pamper the vanity of 
 the understanding, is beset with no toils, and pre- 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM, 133 
 
 sents few perplexing difficulties to a believing and 
 humble mind. 
 
 Study to shoiv thyself approved unto God, a ivork- 
 man that needeth not to he ashamed, rightly dividing 
 (i. e. keeping the straight path and beaten road of) 
 the u'ord of truth '. 
 
 ' 2 Tim. ii. 15. 
 
34 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL CHANGES WHICH 
 HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE DOCTRINE OF RE- 
 GENERATION AND IN THE USE OF THE WORD. 
 
 Such is the weakness of human nature, that the 
 greatest blessings bestowed on us through the 
 agency of uninspired men, are commonly accom- 
 panied with a mixture of evil. The most salutary 
 changes are often carried beyond their proper limits : 
 and principles, which are sound and just under the 
 control of prudence and moderation, when pushed to 
 extremities, and acted upon without discretion, are 
 pregnant with dangerous consequences ; and some- 
 times produce errors almost as pernicious as those 
 which they are intended to counteract. 
 
 We find proofs of this position in the history of 
 the Reformation. A spirit of opposition to the 
 Church of Rome, originating in the best causes, and 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 135 
 
 intimately connected "with the vital interests of 
 religion, "was sometimes carried to an excess, incon- 
 sistent with truth and sobriety. In combating the 
 errors of that Church, theologians lost sight of the 
 landmarks which had been transgressed, and swept 
 away with an unsparing hand opinions and customs, 
 which had been universally received in the best 
 ages of Christianity. Released from the bondage 
 which had been imposed on the human understand- 
 ing, men of pious and ardent spirits seemed to think 
 that Scripture was a book from which every man 
 was at liberty to deduce his theological system, and 
 paid little regard to the testimony of their fore- 
 fathers in the faith, and the most received interpre- 
 tations of Holy Writ, if they interfered with their 
 own favourite opinions. For they appear to have 
 forgotten, that though tradition is of no value when 
 opposed to the plain sense of Scripture, or entirely 
 independent of Scriptural arguments and conclu- 
 sions, the testimony which the primitive Church 
 bears to the received doctrines of Christianity, and 
 the received interpretation of Scripture, is, on prin- 
 ciples of common sense and critical investigation, of 
 great weight and importance. 
 
 This cause seems to have operated in alienating 
 the minds of many Protestant Divines from those 
 doctrinal views of the Sacrament of Baptism, which 
 had been maintained in the Church from its earliest 
 
136 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 days, since it led them to confound the true theory 
 of Baptism with the errors which the Romish Church 
 had engrafted on it. For this departure from the 
 sound and primitive doctrine of Regeneration in 
 Baptism was in great measure owing to an inordi- 
 nate jealousy of that pernicious doctrine of this 
 Church, that Sacraments confer Grace, (to use the 
 language of Schools,) ej.' opere operato. For the 
 doctrine of the Church of Rome was, that Sacra- 
 ments operate upon the soul by a divine virtue com- 
 municated to the elements, and that, where there is 
 no positive obstacle of wilful sin, they confer grace 
 without any corresponding act on the part of the 
 recipient. Not to mention the practical conse- 
 quences of this doctrine in the case of the Lord's 
 Supper, it gave an impress of superstition to the 
 Sacrament of Baptism, and led to absurd and mis- 
 chievous practices. For the Ministers of that Com- 
 munion thought themselves justified in baptizing 
 heathens, who were ignorant of tlie first truths of 
 Christianity, even those who were compelled by 
 violence to profess a faith, which they renounced and 
 hated in their hearts. 
 
 But the divines of whom we are speaking, in the 
 warmth of their opposition to this pernicious error, 
 were induced to reject the truth on which it had 
 been grafted. They contended that the notion, 
 tliat baptized persons are actually regenerated and 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 137 
 
 justified in Baptism \ is the identical heresy of the 
 Romanists ; that Baptism is indeed a seal of Rege- 
 neration, either already bestowed, or to be bestowed 
 perhaps at some future season, but that none except 
 actual believers are really justified or regenerated. 
 But the true doctrine of the Church was, not that 
 " Christ and the Holy Ghost are in the water or 
 font V' nor that they are given promiscuously to all 
 comers ; " but that they are given in the ministra- 
 tion to them that be duly baptized in water :" that 
 adults are not duly bajDtized, unless qualified by 
 belief and repentance : that Regeneration itself is a 
 pure act of God's grace, limited by his word to a 
 particular rite, and connected with a symbolical 
 action ; and that though it implies and requires, it 
 does not necessarily suppose, that future newness 
 of life, which is the joint act of man and the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 ' Apage hunc errorem operis operati. Incipit baptismi fructus 
 ab eo momento quo fides incipit, quae interduni praecedit Bap- 
 tismum, interdum subsequitur. Beza G. 
 
 Ad infantes quod attinet in Ecclesia natos et divinitus Electos, 
 et antequam usum intelligendi nacti sunt, morituros, facile ex- 
 istimarim, verbo Dei fretus, nascendo inseri Christo. De cseteris 
 vero quid aliter statuere nisi apertissima temeritate possum, 
 quam turn demum regenerari cum fide vera ex auditu donantur ? 
 Beza G. p. 103. 
 
 This is certainly more reasonable and consistent doctrine, than 
 that view of Regeneration which supposes that some infants are 
 regenerated in Baptism, and others not. 
 
 ' Archbishop Cranmer. 
 
138 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 Another cause of this departure from the doc- 
 trine of the Church, was the great stress which these 
 divines laid upon faith, as an instrument of salvation, 
 independently of all other moral qualifications, and 
 collateral and subordinate instruments. Arguing 
 from those passages of Scripture, in which faith is 
 insisted on without any allusion to Baptism, they 
 concluded that every believer, whether baptized or 
 not, is justified and regenerated ; and that Baptism 
 is nothing more than a kind of appendage to belief, 
 and a certificate to the soul of the believer, of grace 
 already received. On the same ground they con- 
 tended that no one baptized in infancy is justified 
 or born ajrain till he has acted an act of faith, and 
 applied Christ to himself. But they seem to have 
 forgotten that negative arguments cannot invalidate 
 positive proofs and testimonies. If Christ has or- 
 dained Baptism as a sacrament through which sal- 
 vation — that is, pardon of sin, and the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost — is to be made over to us, the binding 
 force and virtue of this ordinance cannot be shaken 
 or extenuated by passages of Scripture in which 
 faith alone is mentioned and insisted on. Many of 
 these passages record circumstances which took 
 place, and sayings which were uttered before the 
 solemn and authoritative institution of Baptism ; 
 and the preceding law must be qualified and ex- 
 plained by the subsequent statute. And when the 
 Apostles insist on faith as the great requisite to 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 139 
 
 salvation, they could not intend to annul their 
 Lord's ordinance, nor to deny the necessity or to 
 call in question the virtue of this sacrament. " They 
 draw very near to this error," (the error of the 
 Valentinian heretics) " who fixing wholly their minds 
 on the known necessity of faith, imagine that no- 
 thing but faith is necessary to the attainment of 
 grace. Yet it is a branch of belief, that sacraments 
 are in their place no less required than belief itself 
 For when our Lord and Saviour promiseth eternal 
 life, is it any otherwise than he promised restitution 
 of health unto Naaman the Syrian, namely, with 
 this condition, Wash and be clean ^f" 
 
 Another reason which induced many Theologians 
 of the reformed Churches to renounce the ancient 
 doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism, was their 
 attachment to an opinion of late growth in the 
 Church, that true grace is indefectible. The ancient 
 predestinarians never questioned the certainty of 
 Regeneration in Baptism, because this doctrine was 
 consistent with their theory. For though they 
 maintained that only the elect or predestinate are 
 endued with the gift of perseverance to the end, 
 and will be finally saved, yet they believed that 
 God bestows at His pleasure every other kind and 
 measure of grace on those persons, from whom He 
 
 ' Hooker, Eccl. Pol. 1. 5. c. 60. p. 249. 
 
140 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 withholds this special grace of perseverance \ They 
 therefore held, in common with the rest of the 
 Church, tliat the forgiveness of sin and the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost are generally bestowed in Baptism, 
 because they did not conceive that there is any 
 necessary and indissoluble connection between Re- 
 generation and eternal salvation. This was Augus- 
 tin's doctrine, whose opinion was, that grace, however 
 limited in its operation and duration, is nevertheless 
 true grace, and the exact counterpart of a decree 
 of predestination enacted before the world began. 
 This doctrine had its defenders and opponents both 
 among Romish and Protestant divines. It was 
 adopted by Luther, at least in the early part of his 
 career, but was disliked and discountenanced by 
 Melancthon^ and was rejected by the Lutheran 
 Church. And it certainly received no favour nor 
 encouragement from those great men who took the 
 leading part in the Reformation of our own Church. 
 But it was so little disliked by the Church of Rome, 
 that it was acknowledged in the Council of Trent, 
 that in the matter of predestination there is nothing 
 
 1 Mirandum est quidem multumque mirandum, quod quibus- 
 dam filiis suis, quos regeneravit in Christo, quibus fidem, dilec- 
 tionem dedit, non dat perseverantiam. Augustin De Corr. et 
 Gratia, c. 9. 
 
 ^ Nimis horridae fuerunt initio Stoicas disputationcs apud 
 iiostros de Fate ; et discipline nocuerunt, Melancthon Ep. ad 
 Cranmer. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 141 
 
 unsound in the writings of Luther, and the ad- 
 herents to the Augsburg Confession ; and the decrees 
 of that Council are framed in such a manner as not 
 to offend the schoolmen, who were of Augustin's 
 sentiments \ 
 
 But the Calvinistic doctrine of indefectible grace 
 was incompatible with the received notion of Rege- 
 neration in Baptism. For it is evident, that final 
 salvation is no necessary consequence of Baptism. 
 But according to the principles of Calvin and his 
 followers, no one, who has been washed from his 
 sins, and endowed with the Holy Ghost, can possibly 
 fail of everlasting happiness ^ They therefore re- 
 
 ^ On this head, they found nothing to censure in the writings 
 of Luther, nor in the Augsburg Confession, nor in the Apologies 
 and Confessions. But they found much to censure in the writings 
 of the Zuinglians. Paolo, 1. 2. s. 80. 
 
 Nemo, quamdiu in hac mortalitate vivit, de arcano divinas 
 praedestinationis consilio usque adeo praesumere debet, ut certo 
 statuat se omnino esse in numero praedestinatorum : quasi verum 
 asset quod justificatus amplius peccare non possit, aut si pec- 
 caverit certam sibi resipiscentiam promittere debeat. Nam sine 
 speciali revelatione sciri non potest quos Deus sibi elegerit. 
 Con. Tri. Sess. 6. c. 13. 
 
 Similiter de perseverantias munere nemo sibi certi aliquid 
 absoluta certitudine polliceatur. C. 14. 
 
 ^ Fieri non potest, ut qui Spiritus Sancti ope ita Christo 
 unitus fuerit, ut unus cum illo Spiritus evaserit, in Christum 
 credere suo tempore vel negligat, vel deinceps etiam desinat. 
 Gataker, p. 150. 
 
 Cui non Orthodoxo mirum, si non horrendum dictu, videatur, 
 aliquem in Christi mortem sepultum, Christo incorporatum, 
 Christo indutum, in seternum posthac exitium devenire ? Do. 
 p. 157. 
 
142 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 jected the doctrine of the universal Church, in 
 deference to their own theory — a theory flattering 
 to the pride and presumption of the human heart, 
 but manifestly at variance with the whole truth of 
 Scripture, and the first principles of natural re- 
 h'gion. 
 
 But besides, in their zeal for this tenet of absolute 
 election and infallible perseverance, they were too 
 ready to overlook the means through which the 
 decree of predestination, whatever may be its na- 
 ture, must be carried into eifect ; or, at least, to 
 think little of those means which, in the opinion of 
 sober judges, are subordinately instrumental to sal- 
 vation. This is an error which has been treated 
 with his usual judgment and good sense by Hooker. 
 But his mode of arguing did not satisfy the zealous 
 Calvinists. For finding no mention of Baptism in 
 that text of Scripture, which they looked upon as 
 the charter or golden chain of man's salvation \ 
 
 ' Rom. viii. 28, 29, 30. This passage is evidently intended 
 to point out not the necessary and infallible event, but the order, 
 design, and intention of God's counsels. In fact, the aorist, or 
 indefinite tense, often denotes the frequency and customary 
 occurrence, and the order, design, and regular or legitimate 
 event of things, and in the idiom of our language may be more 
 correctly rendered by the present tense — Whom he foreknows, 
 &c. So Luke i. 51, 52, 53. The words, whom he justifies he 
 glorifies, have been commonly quoted as decisive of the doctrine 
 of indefectible grace and necessary perseverance. But it seems 
 to have been forgotten, that a large part of the New Testa- 
 ment is taken up in calling justified men to the performance of 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 143 
 
 they extenuated its importance, and were far from 
 regarding it as an immediate and ordinary mean of 
 life. " There are," says Hooker, " that elevate ^ too 
 much the ordinary and immediate means of life, 
 relying wholly upon the bare conceit of that eternal 
 election, which notwithstanding includetli a subor- 
 dination of means, without which we are not actually 
 brought to enjoy what God secretly did intend. 
 Predestination bringeth not life without vocation, 
 wherein our Baptism is implied. For as we are 
 not naturally men without birth, so neither are we 
 Christian men in the eye of the Church of God 
 but by new birth ; nor according to the manifest 
 ordinary course of divine dispensation new born, 
 but by Baptism, which both declareth and maketh us 
 Christians. In which respect we justly hold it to 
 
 those duties through which they must attain to glory ; in warn- 
 ing them of the danger to which they were exposed of falling 
 away from grace, and exhorting them to seek for glory, honour, 
 and immortality by patient continuance in well-doing. Tn this 
 passage, the Apostle encourages the Roman Christians to per- 
 severance, by assuring them that the whole plan and order of 
 their salvation has been laid down and appointed by God from 
 eternity ; and that as their call and justification are plain proofs 
 of their predestination to life, so they are pledges of the con- 
 tinuance of God's favour, and of eternal glory, if they on their 
 part remain stedfast in the faith, and continue to love Goa, to 
 suffer with Christ, and to walk not after the flesh but after the 
 Spirit. 
 
 ^ The word elevate is here used in the classical sense of the 
 Latin word elevo ; and signifies to undervalue, or take off from 
 the force of. 
 
144 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 be the door of our actual entrance into God's house, 
 the first apparent beginning" of life, a seal perhaps 
 to the grace of election before received, but to our 
 sanctification here a step that hath not any before 
 \t\" 
 
 For these reasons the theologians of whom we are 
 speaking relinquished the opinion of Catholic Christ- 
 ianity on this subject, and brought forward several 
 propositions, directly opposed to the creed which had 
 been maintained for so many ages. 
 
 1. That Baptism is not, properly speaking, a mean 
 or instrument of grace, but merely a sign or seal of 
 regeneration and forgiveness. 
 
 2. That believers in Christ receive remission of 
 their sins and are born again, previous to the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptism. 
 
 3. That infants, though baptized with water, are 
 not baptized with the Spirit, till they are endowed 
 with faith and with effectual and indefectible 
 grace. 
 
 4. That none but the Elect are ever regene- 
 rate ; that the Elect, when effectually called, 
 are regenerate without Baptism; and that every 
 elect and regenerate person must necessarily be 
 saved. 
 
 5. That Infants, who are the children of be- 
 lievers, are not received into covenant with God in 
 
 ' Hooker, Eccl. Pol. b. 5. s. 00. p. 247, 248. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 145 
 
 Baptism, but are baptized because they are already 
 within the covenant of adoption ^ 
 
 Regeneration therefore, being thus separated from 
 Baptism, was invested with a new character and 
 new definitions, and a different place was assigned to 
 it, according to the new theory, from that which it 
 had obtained in the creed and practice of our fore- 
 fathers. 
 
 But, before I proceed to inquire into the value of 
 this theory, I shall enter a little more particularly 
 
 ^ Sancta ideo nascitur ex fidelibus progenies quod adhuc utero 
 inclusi eorum liberi, antequam vitalem Spiritum haurirent, co- 
 optati tainen sunt in foedus vitae aeternae. Nee sane alio jure 
 per Baptismum aggregantur in Ecclesiam, nisi quia ad corpus 
 Christi jam ante pertinebant, quam in lucem ederentur. Bap- 
 tismum praecedat adoptionis gratia necesse est, quae non dimidiae 
 tantum salutis causa est, sed earn ipsam salutem in solidum 
 aiFert, quas Baptismo deinde sancitur. Calvin. Vera Eccles. 
 Reformandae Ratio. Opuscula. P. 325. 
 
 This is the common doctrine of the Calvinistic writers, and 
 they ground it on God's promise to Abraham, that He would be 
 a God to him and his seed after him. Infantes nostros antequam 
 nascantur se adoptare in suos pronuntiat Deus, quum se nobis in 
 Deum fore promittit, seminique nostro post nos. But even 
 allowing the justness of this argument from Abraham's case to 
 our own, God's promise to his seed implied and included circum- 
 cision. That the children of Christians have a title to Baptism 
 and its benefits by birthright, as Abraham's descendants had to 
 Circumcision, and that it is the duty of parents to see that they 
 are baptized, is readily allowed. But I apprehend that our 
 Church speaks more consonantly to Scripture, than Calvin and 
 his followers, when it determines that we are made children of 
 God and children of grace, or made his children by adoption and 
 grace, in Baptism. 
 
 L 
 
146 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 into the history of those variations in language and 
 opinion upon this subject, to which I briefly alluded 
 in an early part of my inquiry. 
 
 The word Regeneration is used by Melancthon, 
 in his public and private writings, as equivalent to 
 justification, in the sense which this latter word 
 bears in the controversial parts of St. Paul's 
 Epistles, and in the controversial writings of the 
 early Protestants. This sense of the word repre- 
 sents the true theory of Regeneration, but it gives it 
 a latitude inconsistent with the usage of Scripture, 
 and the more correct statements of the ancient 
 Christians '. For, instead of confining it to that 
 reconciliation which takes place in Baptism, the 
 first translation from a state of wrath into a state of 
 
 ^ Justificari significat, ex injustis justos effici, seu regenerari. 
 Melancthon, vol. i. p. 66. 
 
 Ex his omnibus apparet, quod sola fides justificat — et quod 
 sola fides regenerat. Nam sola fide concipitur Spiritus Sanctus. 
 p. 71. 
 
 Qui hanc fidem consecuti sunt, hi renati sunt, ut bene operen- 
 tur, et legem faciant. p. 78. 
 
 Fides consequitur remissionem peccatorum, et justificat nos, 
 et regenerat, et afFert Spiritum Sanctum, ut deinde legem facere 
 possimus. p. 64. 
 
 Haec est regeneratio, de qua hie concionatur Christus (John 
 iii. 5.) cum hoc modo fiducia Filii Dei in pavoribus sustentamur, 
 et liberamur a terroribus peccati, et ab aeterna morte. Vol. iii. 
 p. 94. 
 
 Disputatio est, (John iii. 3, &c.) de discrimine justitiae legalis, 
 et justitiae fidei, qua vere toUitur peccatum et mors, et fit regene- 
 ratio, et inchoatio vitae aeternae. Do. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 147 
 
 grace and acceptance, it makes it include the recon- 
 ciliation of the sinner to God in every part of his 
 religious life. Justification, like Regeneration, is 
 distinct in theory from conversion, or the renewal of 
 the inward frame, and does not, strictly speaking, 
 consist in a change of mind, but in a change of 
 relative condition to God, and a free grant of privi- 
 leges and mercies ; including in its definition the 
 forgiveness of sin, the acceptance of the person, and 
 a conditional title to eternal life. Thus far, therefore, 
 it agrees with Regeneration ; and every \vorthy 
 recipient, according to the constant doctrine of 
 the Church, is not only regenerated, but justified in 
 Baptism. But in many respects Justification diifers 
 from Regeneration K 
 
 In Regeneration God is considered as a father, 
 adopting us for his children, and bringing us into a 
 state of new life. In Justification He is spoken of 
 as a judge or moral governor, passing sentence upon 
 us, and pronouncing us just and righteous. 
 
 Regeneration is a single act of God's grace, con- 
 veyed over to us at a determinate time, and in a 
 form specially appointed by Christ. Its privileges 
 and good eflfects may be suspended, and in the end 
 utterly forfeited ; but cannot, humanly speaking, be 
 totally lost in this w^orld, because every person, who 
 has been born again of water and of the Spirit, is, 
 
 ' See Waterland's Sermon on Justification. 
 L 2 
 
148 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 till he dies, within the covenant of repentance. But, 
 if we except the case of infants, the being accounted 
 just and righteous in God's sight is a blessing which 
 depends on the actual condition of the heart and 
 habits ; and no man is justified who has not forsaken 
 his sins, and is not living in a state of habitual belief 
 and holiness, and compliance with the will of God. 
 Hence, as Augustin ' has well remarked, man is jus- 
 tified in Baptism, and continues to be justified 
 whilst he is contending strenuously against sin, and 
 praying for the forgiveness of his daily trespasses. 
 But the same qualifications that are required of 
 adult converts, in order to their Justification in 
 Baptism, are required of the Christian sinner who 
 has departed from grace, in order to forgiveness and 
 justification. Justification, therefore, is a blessing 
 which may be lost by man's sin, and recovered 
 through God's mercy. For as our Church teaches 
 us, in perfect conformity to Scripture, " The grant of 
 repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into 
 sin after Baptism. After we have received the 
 
 ^ Justificatio porro in hac vita nobis secundum tria ista 
 confertur. Prius lavacro regenerationis quo remittuntur peccata 
 omnia. Deinde congressu cum vitiis, u quorum reatu absoluti 
 sumus. Tertio, cum nostra exauditur oratio, qua dicimus, 
 Dimitte nobis debita nostra — quoniam quamlibet fortiter contra 
 vitia dimicemus, homines sumus ; Dei autem gratia sic nos in 
 hac corruptibili carne adjuvat dimicantes, ut non desit propter 
 quod exaudiat veniam postulantes. Augustin contra Julianum, 
 lib. ii. ed. Paris, vol. vii, p. ]r)5.'). 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 149 
 
 Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and 
 fall into sin : and by the grace of God, we may rise 
 again, and amend ourselves '." 
 
 But though Melancthon and the Lutheran divines 
 used the word Regeneration in this latitude, and in 
 the more popular sense of conversion or renovation ^, 
 they maintained with steadiness the doctrine of 
 Regeneration in Baptism ^ They taught consis- 
 tently with the language and doctrine of our own 
 Church, that the guilt or formality of sin is removed 
 in Baptism, though the material part of it, (to use 
 the language of the schools,) that is, concupiscence, 
 or proneness to evil, still remains : and that the 
 
 ' Article XVI. 
 
 ^ Cum de tali fide loquamur, quae a morte liberat, et novara 
 vitam in cordibus parit, et est opus Spiritus Sancti, non stat cum 
 peccato mortali, sed tantisper dum adest bonos fructus parit. 
 Quid potest dici de conversione iwpii, seu de modo regenerationis 
 clarius? Melancthon, vol. i. p. 65. 
 
 ^ See Archbishop Laurence, Part i. c. 4. 
 
 Semper ita scripsit Lutherus, quod Baptismus tollat reatum 
 peccati originis, etsi raateriale, ut isti vocant, peccati maneat — id 
 est concupiscentia. Addit etiam de materiali, quod Spiritus 
 Sanctus per Baptismum datus, incipit mortificare concupiscentiam, 
 et novos motus creat in homine. Mel. vol. i. p. 61. 
 
 Quod Deus approbat baptismum parvulorum hoc ostendit, 
 quod Deus dat Spiritum Sanctum sic baptizatis. p. 83. 
 
 Deducit Christus nos (John iii. 5.) ad ministerium Evangelii, 
 quasi dicat — Intelligo te, Nicodeme, offendi novis concionibus 
 meis et Baptistse, quod diciraus vestris exercitiis et disciplina 
 non tolli peccatum : sed hoc prorsus affirmo, teque ad hoc novum 
 ministerium deduce. Renasci te oportet per hoc novum minis- 
 terium Baptismi, qui fit aqua et Spiritu. Vol. iii. p. 641. 
 
150 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 Holy Ghost is given to us at the same time, to 
 mortify our concupiscence, and to produce new and 
 godly motions within us. 
 
 The opinions delivered by Calvin on this subject 
 do not appear altogether steady and consistent. 
 He identifies Regeneration with conversion, re- 
 pentance, or renewal \ According to this defini- 
 tion, Regeneration is a true conversion of the soul 
 to God, proceeding from a sincere and serious fear 
 of Him, and consisting of the mortification of the 
 flesh and the old man, and of the quickening or 
 renewal of the Spirit. This change is necessary 
 that the image of God, which had been obliterated 
 in Adam, may be formed again in the soul of man. 
 And this renewal, or Regeneration, is not completed 
 in one moment, or day, or year ; but God abolishes 
 the corruptions of the flesh in the elect, by con- 
 tinued and slow advances. 
 
 ' Regenerationem dico esse veram ad Deum vitae nostra 
 conversionem, a sincere serioque Dei timore profectam, quae 
 carnis nostras veterisque hominis mortificatione, et Spiritus 
 vivifieatione constat. Calvin Inst. 1. iii. c. 3. 
 
 Uno ergo verbo poenitentiam interpretor regenerationem, cujus 
 non alius est scopus, nisi ut imago Dei, quae per Adae trans- 
 gressionem foedata, et tantum non obliterata fuerat, in nobis 
 reformetur. Do. 
 
 Proinde ista regeneratione in Dei justitiam Christi beneficio 
 instauramur. Atque lisec quidem instauratio non uno memento, 
 vel die, vel anno impletur, sed per continuos, imo etiam lentos 
 ititerdum profectus abolet Deus in Electis suis carnis corrup- 
 telas. Do. 
 
 I 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 151 
 
 But he affirms, that Baptism is the ordinary 
 instrument of Regeneration and renovation ^ ; that 
 it is an instrumental cause of conferring grace ; 
 that in Baptism God washes us with the blood of 
 His Son, and regenerates us with His Spirit ; that 
 in this sacrament he effectually fulfils what it figures 
 out and represents. And he declares his total dis- 
 approbation of the sentiments of those persons who 
 deny that sacraments contain the grace which they 
 symbolize. At the same time, he strictly confines 
 this grace of Regeneration to the elect, that is, to 
 those persons whose salvation is secured by an 
 absolute and unconditional decree ; and asserts, 
 that the man who does not know that the Spirit 
 
 ' Sacramenta nihil sunt quam instrumentales conferendae 
 gratias causae, quae turn demum prosunt suumque effectum 
 habent, cum fidei inserviunt. Calv. Antid. C. T. Opuscula, 
 p. 296. 
 
 Nee fideles modo astringimus ad ejus observationem : sed 
 ordinarium quoque Dei instrumentum esse asserimus ad nos 
 lavandos et renovandos, ad salutem denique nobis communi- 
 candam. P. 298. 
 
 In baptismo Deus filii sui sanguine nos abluit, suoque Spiritu 
 nos regenerat. P. 297. 
 
 Hac tessera voluntatem suam Dominus nobis testificatur, 
 neque tantum nudo spectaculo pascit oculos, sed in rem prae- 
 sentem nos adducit, et quod figurat efficaciter simul implet. 
 Inst. 1. 4. c. 15. 
 
 Si qui sunt qui negant Sacramentis contineri gratiam quam 
 significant, improbamus. Opus. p. 296. 
 
 Quum autem vera sunt quae nobis Dominus dedit gratias suae 
 testimonia et sigilla vere procul dubio prasstat intus Spiritu suo, 
 quod oculis et aliis sensibus figurant sacramenta. Consensio 
 Min. Eccl. Tigur. et J. Calvin. Opus. p. 753. 
 
152 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 of Regeneration is only conferred on the elect, is 
 totally unacquainted with Scripture \ Yet in other 
 passages, he seems to confine the office of sacraments 
 to sealing and testifying ; and declares, that God re- 
 generates those who have been baptized in infancy, 
 sometimes in childhood, sometimes in youth, some- 
 times in extreme old age ^ 
 
 This was one of the earliest attempts to separate 
 Regeneration from Baptism ; and these opinions 
 are consequences of his favourite notions of pre- 
 destination, and of the indefectibility and necessary 
 activity of true grace. But though Calvin seems 
 to have departed with reluctance from the received 
 
 ' Sedulo docemus, Deum non promiscue vim suam exercere 
 in omnibus qui Sacramenta recipiunt, sed tantum in electis. 
 Consensus, s. 16. 
 
 Hoc interest in Dei vocatione, quod omnes promiscue invitat 
 verbo suo, electos autem solos intus docet. Quemadmodum 
 ait Christus, Quicquid mihi dedit pater, ad me veniet, Denique 
 regenerationis Spiritum non dari nisi Electis, quisquis ignorat 
 nescioquidin Scripturis teneat. Ant. C. T. Opus. 291. 
 
 ' Hie prascipuus Sacramentorum usus est, ut per ea nobis 
 gratiam suam testetur Deus, figuret, repraesentet. Consensio, 
 753. 
 
 Tametsi in contextu verborum Baptismus remissionem pec- 
 catorum hie prascedit, ordine tamen sequitur, quia nihil aliud 
 est quam bonorum quae per Christum consequimur, obsignatio, 
 ut in conscientiis nostris rata sint. Quia autem Baptismus 
 sigillum est, quo Deus hoc nobis confirmat, adeoque arrha et 
 pignus adoptionis nostrae, merito dari in remissionem peccatorum 
 dicitur. Calv. in Act. 2. 38. 
 
 Qui in prima infantia baptizati sunt, eos in pueritia, vel 
 ineunte adolescentia, interdum etiam in senectute regenerat 
 Deus. Consensio, s. 19. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 153 
 
 doctrine and language of the Cliurcli, the opinions, 
 which he advanced with some caution and reserve, 
 were avowed and defended by the great body of 
 his followers. According to the doctrine of the 
 Church, the sacramental phraseology is founded on 
 the conjunction and simultaneous presence of the 
 sign and the thing signified ' ; and sacraments not 
 only denote, but confer grace, in a subordinate and 
 instrumental manner. But the Calvinistic divines 
 put a different interpretation on these phrases. 
 For they affirmed, that sacraments confer grace 
 in a manner peculiar to themselves, not as means 
 whereby grace is transmitted to the recipient, but 
 as signs or seals of grace already received ^ They 
 
 ' Sacramentales locutiones fundantur in conjuncta collatione 
 et exhibitione rei signatae cum signo, in usu legitimo ex insti- 
 tutione Christi. Ward, p. 101. G. 
 
 ^ Baptismus filios Dei non facit, sed qui jam ante filii Dei 
 sunt, filiorum Dei testimonium signum vel tesseram accipiunt. 
 Zuinglius, prior to Calvin. G. p. 9(i. 
 
 Baptismus est obsignatio promissionis acquisitae et sigillum 
 jam impetratae regenerationis. Peter Martyr. G. 
 
 Sacramenta in adultis nisi renatis jam et renovatis non appli- 
 cant Christi meritum. Gat. 
 
 Consentiunt Sacramenta esse signa exhibentia id quod signi- 
 ficant. Nam quae diplomata in membrana sunt, fiunt efficacia, 
 sortiunturque effectum suum. Chamier Panstr. G. 93. 
 
 Baptismatis aqua neque ut causa efficiens, neque ut instru- 
 mentalis, requiritur, sed duntaxat ut obsignatorium sigillum. 
 Danseus. G. p. 92. 
 
 Contrarium dogma ex foetidis Scholasticorum lacunis haustum 
 est, qui causativam, ut loquuntur, vim Deo principal em, instru- 
 mentalem Sacramentis tribuerunt. Beza. G. 105. 
 
 Adultus 
 
154 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 considered what St. Paul says of Abraham's circum- 
 cision as a complete definition of a sacrament \ 
 For as Abraham received the sign of circumcision^ the 
 seal of the righteousness of faith, lohich he had yet 
 being uncircumcised, so, in their opinion, every be- 
 liever receives the sign of Baptism, the seal of the 
 righteousness of faith, which he had yet being 
 unbaptized. They did not, however, remark that 
 there can be no analogy between the case of Abra- 
 ham, whose faith, as we learn from Scripture, was 
 counted to him for rio-hteousness longf before he 
 received the covenant of circumcision, and of Chris- 
 tians, the express words of whose charter are, He 
 that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. 
 
 But since this theory and definition of Baptism 
 could not cover the case of infants, to solve this 
 difficulty they resorted to a distinction arising out 
 
 Adultus fidelis quivis ad fontem sacrum accedit, peccatorura 
 retro commissorum omnium remissionem plenariam, et internam 
 regenerationem jam consecutus. Gat. p. 95. 
 
 1 Vix puto ullum locum ex tare in sacris literis, quo tam 
 breviter et explicate natura Sacraraentorum explicatur, quam 
 his Pauli verbis ubi Circumcisio appellatur signaculum. Pet. 
 Martyr, in Rom. iv. 11. G. 
 
 Porro hie habemus insignem locum de communi Sacramen- 
 torum usu. Sunt enim, teste Paulo, sigilla ; quibus Dei pro- 
 missiones cordibus nostris quodammodo obsignantur, et sancitur 
 gratiag certitudo. Calv. in Rom. iv. 11. 
 
 Nee vero Baptismo plus tribuere fas est, quam Apostolus 
 circumcisioni tribuit, quod vocat sigiUum justkice field. Calv. 
 Tnst. 1. iv. c. 14. § 25. 
 
 Non hie circumcisionis tantuni, sed Sacraraentorum in genere 
 definitio habetur. Whitaker. G. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 155 
 
 of the nature and use of seals ^ " Seals," they said, 
 " are sometimes affixed to legal instruments in con- 
 firmation of grants already bestowed ; sometimes in 
 testimony of grants which are to be made good at 
 some future time. It is in the latter way that 
 Baptism confers grace on elect infants, because it 
 is a seal of that gTace which God will bestow on 
 them in his own season." Had it, however, been 
 true that this figurative expression, in scriptural 
 usage, is borrow^ed from seals affixed to legal instru- 
 ments, it is reasonable to suppose that it would not 
 have been taken from the accidental and occasional, 
 but from the ordinary use of legal seals. Now, 
 though seals are sometimes affixed to grants or 
 conveyances of property, of which the party is 
 already in full possession, and sometimes to con- 
 veyances of reversionary or contingent interests, the 
 ordinary use of legal instruments is to convey and 
 give present possession of property or privileges ; 
 and these instruments have no legal validity till 
 they are sealed. Hence, if Baptism is a seal of 
 grace, in the sense to which we are alluding, it is 
 more natural, and more consistent with the common 
 
 1 Moralis signi usus est promiscuus, ad efFecta turn prseterita, 
 turn futura. Sigilla in rebus politicis confirmant turn pacta jam 
 statuta, turn promissa in futurum. Chamier Panstr. G. 95. 
 
 Obsignatur remissio, vel coUata baptizato, vel conferenda 
 deinceps : sive cum adultus actualiter conversus crediderit, sive 
 priusquam hinc discesserit, si parvulus adhuc obierit. Gataker, 
 p. 96, speaking of infants. 
 
1 56 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 principles of figurative language, to consider it as 
 a seal of grace conveyed and made over by the act 
 of sealing, than of grace already bestowed, or only 
 promised and contingent. 
 
 But though Calvin used the word Regeneration 
 rather in a popular than in its strict and appropriate 
 meaning, his notions of the thing itself were sober 
 and moderate. For he supposes that Regeneration 
 proceeds from the fear of God, and includes in its 
 definition the whole conversion of the life to God, 
 commencing either in Baptism, or in some other 
 season, "\nthout speculating on the nature and ex- 
 tent of this turning point, or commencement of 
 Regeneration. But his followers confined the act of 
 Regeneration to a determinate time, and took their 
 description of it from the scholastic doctrine of justify- 
 ing grace '. For, according to the schoolmen, man, 
 when he is baptized, is endowed with a habit of 
 justifying grace, containing in it the habits of faith, 
 hope, and charity, and of all Christian virtues. 
 But the scholastic Calvinists asserted that Regene- 
 
 1 In ipsa justificatione haec omnia simul infusa accipit homo, 
 spem, fidem, caritatem. Con. Trid. Sessio Sexta. S. 5. 8. 
 
 Grace is said by the schoolmen to be a spiritual quality, created 
 by God. They maintained that the perfection of Adam con- 
 sisted in an infused quality, which adorned his soul, and ren- 
 dered it perfect ; that God, through the merits of Christ, gives 
 to those who are born again in baptism another quality, which 
 is called justifying grace, which, by purifying the soul of all its 
 stains, renders it as pure as that of Adam. Paulo, 1. ii. c. 64. 
 
 I 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BArTISM. 157 
 
 ration consists in such a habit of grace bestowed 
 on the elect in the moment of the effectual call. 
 Regeneration, according to their statement, " is 
 the implanting the habits and principles of grace, 
 or the framing the complexion or body of grace in 
 the heart. It is a constellation of all the several 
 graces of the Spirit in the heart ; and all these 
 graces of the Holy Spirit are implanted in us at 
 once in the very instant of our Regeneration, for 
 they are all linked together, and whoever receives 
 one grace receives them all. It is a change of the 
 whole man, in every part and faculty thereof, from 
 a state of sinful nature to a state of supernatural 
 grace, whereby the image of God, which was defaced 
 and lost by our first transgression, is in some mea- 
 sure restored. This image of God, which is restored 
 to us in Regeneration, has a perfection of parts, 
 though not of degrees, and it can never be totally 
 lost and effaced as the other was : for though the 
 sins of the elect may blot the evidences of their 
 Regeneration, they cannot annul the certainty of 
 their salvation \" 
 
 In the next Chapter I shall examine particularly 
 the grounds and reasonableness of this theory, and 
 inquire whether it has any advantage over the 
 
 ' This statement is taken from Bishop Hopkins, vol. ii. p. 475, 
 &c. London, 8vo. The doctrinal works of this prelate are a 
 kind of digest of Calvinistic common places. See Cat. Syn. 
 Trident, part ii. c. 2. 50, 51. 
 
158 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 theory of our Church and the ancient Christians. 
 At present I shall only observe, that this scholastic 
 notion of a habit of grace involves two innovations 
 on the known and received use of words. 
 
 The ancient moralists make a just and reasonable 
 distinction between faculties or dispositions, and 
 habits '. Faculties or dispositions are potential 
 principles of action, which must be elicited by edu- 
 cation, or opportunities, and formed into habits by 
 use and exercise. Habits are the same principles 
 in a state of activity, and of readiness and aptness 
 for use. But, according to the doctrine of the 
 scholastic divines, those principles which are said 
 to be infused into the soul when it is regenerated, 
 do not follow the order of moral causes, but are at 
 once in a state of activity, and produce free acts as 
 soon as they have an opportunity of exerting them- 
 selves. But we shall see by and by that there is 
 no ground of reason or Scripture for supposing that 
 spiritual causes differ from moral in the order of 
 their operations, or in the manner in which they 
 produce their practical effects. 
 
 The other innovation upon language consists in 
 the sense which they have affixed to the word grace, 
 considering it as a habit or quality inherent in 
 the soul of man\ Grace is a word used in a 
 variety of senses in Scripture : but, whenever it is 
 
 » Aristotle. Nicom. Ethic. 1. ii, c. 1 .iiid 4. '' X""'^' 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 159 
 
 applied to the renewal and spiritual improvement of 
 the human soul, it always signifies some favour or 
 mercy proceeding from God, of which man is the 
 object. In popular language, those virtues and good 
 qualities which we refer upward to God, as their 
 principal cause, are often called, by a common figure 
 of speech, graces. But the schoolmen built a meta- 
 physical distinction on this figure of speech, and 
 distributed grace into real and relative, objective and 
 subjective : relative grace, of which man is the 
 object — adoption, for instance, and the forgiveness 
 of sins — which alters the relation in which he stands 
 to God : real grace, of which man is the subject, 
 which is a quality inherent in himself, and consists 
 in the creation or infusion of new habits, and an 
 entire change of the inward frame and dispositions. 
 This is what the schoolmen call justifying grace ; 
 the scholastic Calvinists regenerating grace, or Re- 
 generation. But as this distinction has no founda- 
 tion in Scriptural language, so we shall see that the 
 doctrine which it insinuates has no foundation in the 
 reason of the thing, experience, or Scripture. 
 
 There are some divines, who, using the word 
 Regeneration much in the same sense, and at all 
 events separating it from Baptism, do not think it 
 necessary to confine the change signified by it to any 
 turning point, or particular moment of time. But 
 there does not seem to be any material difference of 
 opinion between them and the divines, whose senti- 
 
160 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 ments have been just now stated. A gradual 
 renewal of the mind and formation of habits, a 
 change from evil to good, or from good to better, is 
 often called Regeneration, in an enlarged sense of 
 the word, by theologians, who still adhere, if not to 
 the phraseology, to the doctrine of the ancient 
 Christians, in the matter of Baptism. But I do not 
 apprehend that the divines, to whom I allude, con- 
 sider Regeneration as a moral change, produced by 
 causes operating in a moral manner. If by this 
 word they denote the whole process of renovation \ 
 necessarily advancing onward, without any material 
 or fatal interruption, from some determinate point, 
 of which reason and conscience can take no cogni- 
 zance, this notion involves the unscriptural doctrine 
 of the indefectibility of true grace. If it is only 
 meant that the entire change of mind, or infusion of 
 habits, does not necessarily take place in a particular 
 instant, but may be extended to a larger compass 
 and period of time, this variation implies some 
 deference to common sense, but, in the most 
 material respects, coincides with the opinion of the 
 scholastic Calvinists. 
 
 Some writers, indeed, who speak of Regeneration 
 as a gradual process effected by the Spirit of God, 
 appear, nevertheless, to make a distinction between 
 Regeneration and conversion, and contend that 
 
 ' This, as we have seen above, is Calvin's doctrine. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. IGl 
 
 Regeneration is the immediate operation of the 
 Holy Ghost upon the soul, conversion the voluntary 
 act of the mind turning itself to God. But as 
 neither conversion, nor any other moral and religious 
 change, can be effected without the operation of the 
 Holy Ghost, so I find no ground for supposing that 
 any renewal of the inward frame takes place, in the 
 ordinary course of God's dealings with us, without 
 the agency of man's will and faculties. Certainly 
 this subtle attempt to split the joint act of the 
 Spirit and the man into two separate acts, indepen- 
 dent of each other in theory, cannot be defended on 
 Scriptural principles. 
 
 But though the Calvinistic theology had sepa- 
 rated Regeneration from Baptism, and described it 
 as an infusion of habits, an implantation of grace, 
 or a radical change of all the parts and faculties of 
 the soul, it did not represent it as immediately 
 and necessarily discernible, but left it to be dis- 
 covered by its moral effects, or by certain criteria 
 which it laid doM^n as the best and most infallible 
 signs of true grace. Men of warm constitutions, 
 however, often spoke of this change as something 
 sensible and palpable ; and the definitions which 
 were given of it, combined with those notions of 
 faith which were entertained by many of the early 
 Protestants, naturally betrayed them into this error. 
 For when it is once supposed that faith is a certain 
 knowledge and full assurance of our own individual 
 
 M 
 
162 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 favour with God ^ or of our own absolute predes- 
 tination to eternal life, and that Regeneration is an 
 infusion of (what is called) habitual grace, or an 
 entire change of soul, effected at some turning point, 
 or, at the utmost, within a short compass of time, 
 the barrier between these opinions and enthusiasm, 
 however firm it may appear to speculative Theo- 
 logians, is weak and inconsiderable. Hence the 
 
 ^ It was the common doctrine of the Lutherans, maintained 
 even by Melancthon himself, that the faith which justifies is 
 an assured persuasion of our own personal forgiveness and 
 favour. Calvin adopted this opinion, and incorporated with it 
 his own doctrine of the indefectibility of grace ; so that accord- 
 ing to him the faith which justifies is an assured persuasion of our 
 fersonal and everlasting salvation. See Inst. 1. iii. c. 2. Many 
 of his followers saw the absurdity of this definition, and its pal- 
 pable contradiction to Scripture, which teaches us that faith must 
 precede justification. They therefore made a distinction between 
 justifying and special faith, and supposed that the one depends 
 upon the other in the way of logical conclusion. Dr. S. Ward* 
 treats the doctrine of justification by a special faith, or persuasion 
 of our own personal forgiveness and acceptance, as a Lutheran 
 error. 
 
 This notion of justification by a special faith, or a persuasion 
 of our own personal forgiveness and acceptance, is a leading 
 doctrine of Whitfield, Wesley, and all the Methodistical sects, 
 and exactly coincides with their views of regeneration ; which 
 in their system is separate from justification in theory and the 
 order of thought, though not in fact or the order of time. 
 
 * Samuelis Ward, S. T. D. Opera nonnulla. 
 
 Tractatus de fide justificante et speciali, c. 23, p. 201. 
 
 Operse pretium duximus eorum opinionem oppugnarc, qui 
 fiduciam de peccatorum remissione esse ipsara fidem justifi- 
 cantem contendunt : qua3 fere est asscrtio Lutheranorum. 
 
 4 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAFTISM. 163 
 
 theoretical error of these divines, when it fell into 
 the hands of the unthinking, the injudicious, and 
 the passionate, naturally slided into a practical error 
 and a fanatical conceit ; especially when it was set 
 off in the exaggerated colours of eloquence, or exhi- 
 bited to the understanding in the incongruous form 
 of rhetorical definitions. A new birth, distinctly 
 perceivable by the conscience and feelings of the 
 individual, accompanied with throes and agonies, 
 and bearing in every respect a close analogy to the 
 natural birth, has become, as might have been 
 expected, the favourite tenet and strong hold of 
 fanaticism. Indeed the theory of those who contend 
 that this new birth is sensible, and of those who 
 speak of it in more guarded language, is precisely 
 the same ; and there is no difference in their views 
 of the nature or necessity of that change which they 
 designate by this term. But the more sober- 
 minded advocates of this opinion maintain that the 
 change is not perceived at the very moment when 
 it takes place, because it is not expected. Whereas, 
 in the system of the enthusiasts, it is expected, and 
 therefore, as they contend, is perceived. The mind 
 of the aspirant is postured into the different stages 
 of spiritual parturition, and he is brought to the 
 birth (to use their own phraseology) sooner or later, 
 if we will believe themselves, as the Spirit listeth ; 
 as thinking and observing men will probably judge, 
 in proportion to his credulity or vanity, the live- 
 
 M 2 
 
164 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 liness of his imagination, or the strength of his 
 natural passions. 
 
 There is another signification of this word, to 
 which I have frequently alluded, which speaks of 
 the legitimate effects of the new birth, the j)rac- 
 tical change which the Holy Ghost effects in be- 
 lievers, by a popular and common figure, under the 
 name of Regeneration. The word is often used 
 in this sense by sound and orthodox divines of our 
 Church. Maintaining in its full force the connec- 
 tion between the outward sign and inward grace 
 of Baptism, they do not adhere with strictness to 
 the phraseology of the Liturgy, and of the ancient 
 Christians. Some writers use the word indifferently, 
 either for the sj^iritual grace of Baptism, or for that 
 inward change which is more properly denominated 
 renovation ; or, whilst they acknowledge that the 
 former is its strict and accurate sense, use it occa- 
 sionally in a more enlarged and popular manner. 
 Some, with greater deference to the popular use of 
 words than to accuracy of doctrinal language, style 
 the inward grace of the Sacrament baptismal Rege- 
 neration, and give the title of spiritual Regeneration 
 to the progressive renewal and change of the inward 
 frame. But this distinction has no foundation in 
 the language of Scripture, and does not appear alto- 
 gether safe. For though the doctrinal views of 
 these writers appear to be sound, and in unison witli 
 the sentiments of our Church, the verbal distinction 
 
 I 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 165 
 
 which they have laid down seems to imply, what was 
 probably far from their intention, that Regeneration 
 in Baptism is not spiritual Regeneration. Others, 
 again, without denying the virtue and efficacy of 
 Baptism, use the word almost exclusively in the 
 popular signification. 
 
 But the Arminian divines contended that what 
 is here called the popular, is the only true and 
 proper sense of this expression ^ For, in their 
 opinion, the figure relates solely to effects, without 
 taking into the account the mode in which they are 
 produced, or the instruments by which they are 
 effected. We may, indeed, they tell us, learn from 
 other passages of Scripture, that this moral and 
 
 » Regeneratio facit nos Dei filios, id est Deo similes, et, ut 
 diximus, perfieitur verbo Evangelii. Quaiido se componit ad 
 vitam juxta illius praescriptum instituendam, patris imaginem 
 sensim exprimit : at postquani actu ipso ostendit se verbo illo 
 regi, turn totum patrem refert, seque genuinum illius filium 
 ostendit. Ad novum itaque efFeetum respicitur : modus, quo 
 ille peragitur, phrasibus illis non continetur, sed ex aliis 
 locis petendus est. Limborch, Theol. Christ. 1. iv. c. 14. 
 § 14. 
 
 It is in this sense that Archbishop Tillotson uses the word, in 
 his Sermons on the nature and necessity of Regeneration. But 
 in his Sermons on the ordinary influences of the Holy Spirit, he 
 decidedly states his opinion that the Holy Ghost is given in 
 Baptism, and defends the language of our Church, in the office 
 of Baptism for children, as agreeable to Scripture, the ancient 
 fathers, and the Liturgies of the Reformed Churches. And no 
 one who is acquainted with the Archbishop's sentiments, will 
 suspect him of supposing that some infants receive the Holy 
 Ghost in Baptism, and others not. Sermon 2G0. Vol. x^ 
 p. 345, 6. Octavo edition. 
 
166 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 practical change is effected by the Word and Spirit 
 of God. But it is called Regeneration only when 
 completed ; and men are not said to be regenerate 
 in the Scriptural sense, till their whole conduct shows 
 that they are governed by God's word, and till they 
 resemble their heavenly Father, and show them- 
 selves to be his genuine children. Hence they 
 positively deny that there is any connection between 
 Baptism and Regeneration \ and find fault, not 
 
 ^ Sacramenta in nobis operantur, tanquam signa repraesen- 
 tantia menti nostra rem cujus signa sunt. Neque alia in 
 illis quaeri debet efficacia. Limborch Theol. Chris. 1. iv. c. G6. 
 §31. 
 
 Contraremonstrantes valde intricate sententiam suam pro- 
 ponunt, nee distincte satis concipi potest quid sibi velint. Do. 
 §30. ■ ^ 
 
 Baptismus ritus est, quo fideles, tanquam sacra tessera, con- 
 firmantur de gratiosa Dei erga ipsos voluntate, remissione pecca- 
 torum, ac aeterna vita, seque ad vitse emendationem, et praecep- 
 torum obedientiam obstringunt. C. 67. § 5. 
 
 Baptismum non esse lavacrum regenerationis satis ex iis, quae 
 antea de sacramentorum efficacia disputavimus, constare potest. 
 C. 67. § 10. 
 
 Contraremonstrantes affirmare non audent omnes fidelium 
 liberos foedere divino comprehendi, et per Baptismum foederis 
 divini sigillo obsignari, sed solos electos. Hinc affirmare non 
 dubitant, infantes fidelium baptizatos, si progressu aetatis impia 
 ac profana vita sua ostendant, se non habere Spiritum regene- 
 rationis, eum non amisisse, sed nunquam habuisse : baptizari 
 autem, quia ex judicio charitatis pro fcederatis habendi sunt. 
 Qua sua doctrina revera necessitatem Paedo-baptismi evertunt, 
 utpote qui fallax tantum foederis divini signum sit. Quodque 
 gravius est, doctrina haec cum maxima Dei injuria, conjuncta est. 
 Quia enim Baptismus, ut foederis divini sigillum, solemniter 
 administratur in nomen Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Pater, 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 167 
 
 without reason, with their Calvinistic opponents, 
 who pretended to maintain this connection by the 
 help of verbal ambiguities and ingenious equivoca- 
 tions, while they virtually denied it in the whole 
 tenour of their doctrines and peculiar opinions. 
 
 But here again, though their arguments are 
 sound and reasonable, supposing their definition to 
 be correct, the theory of Regeneration is mis-stated, 
 and the popular sense of the word substituted 
 for its strict and appropriate meaning : the efficacy 
 which the Church has assig-ned to the rio-ht use 
 of its Sacraments is enervated ; and the language 
 of Scripture itself is frequently subjected to such 
 modes of interpretation as are disclaimed by a 
 sound and judicious criticism. In these subjects, 
 whilst we keep close to the established theory and 
 doctrine of the Church, one passage of Scripture 
 throws light upon another ; and where different 
 texts appear to disagree, they may be reconciled 
 upon general and approved rules of interpretation. 
 But error is manifold, and every error has its 
 difficulties to encounter, and its solutions to pro- 
 
 Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus invocantur tanquara testes in testimo- 
 nium, quod dubium, incertum, ac fallax est, multorumque 
 respectu falsum. Hinc Zanchius, ut incommodum illud vitet, 
 consentanee doctrinae suae docuit, Baptismura non esse adminis- 
 trandum, nisi sub hac conditione, si electi sint : neminemque 
 baptizandum, nisi hac particula vel expressa vel subintellecta. 
 Ego, Deus, hunc baptizo secundum electionem et projwsitum 
 dimnce voluntatis tuce. C. 68. § 14. 
 
 M 4 "*" 
 
168 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 pound. The view which our Church takes of Re- 
 generation in Baptism is in accordance ^vith sound 
 sense and experience, with just ideas of the rea- 
 sonable faculties and moral nature of man, with 
 the general truth of religion, and the particular 
 theory of Christianity. But every departure from 
 it is more or less at variance with one or other of 
 these principles, and, consequently, with the true 
 sense and sound interpretation of Scripture itself. 
 
 It will be needless to inquire farther into all 
 the variations from the tmth which have been de- 
 tailed in this Chapter. But in the following 
 Chapter I shall examine more at length the 
 grounds of that theory which has been opposed 
 with the greatest confidence to the doctrine main- 
 tained in this Treatise. If it is founded in 
 reason and Scripture, we must retrace our steps, 
 and endeavour to discover the weak points of our 
 own theory. If it is built upon scholastic para- 
 doxes, or exaggerated views of any part of Christian 
 truth, we may be contented to tread the highway 
 which our Church has pointed out to us, and our 
 ancestors in the faith have trodden, without turning 
 aside to the right hand or the left. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 169 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AN EXAMINATION OF THE CALVINISTIC THEORY OF 
 REGENERATION. 
 
 We have seen that according to the theory stated 
 in a preceding chapter, Regeneration is a pure act 
 of God's special grace, immanent in himself and 
 terminating in man, limited and determined to a 
 particular time, and incapable of latitude and in- 
 crease. But the theory, whose merits we now pro- 
 pose to examine, proceeds upon totally different 
 principles. For it represents Regeneration as a 
 kind of general revolution in the moral nature and 
 reasonable faculties of man, effected by the sole 
 power of God's Holy Spirit, in the way of creation 
 or miraculous operation ; as an implantation of new 
 qualities or habits; or as that turning point from 
 evil to good, in which a radical change of all the 
 parts and faculties of the soul takes place. Such 
 
170 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 a change, however confidently asserted and inge- 
 niously defended, will be found, if I mistake not, 
 on a more exact inquiry, to be inconsistent with the 
 reason of the thing, the experience and history of 
 mankind, and the drift and purposes of natural and 
 revealed religion. 
 
 That those changes which have their seat in our 
 intellectual and moral nature, so far as they are 
 effected throuo-h the medium of reliofious instruc- 
 tion and exercises, are the joint work of the Holy 
 Spirit and of that principle of self-action which 
 God has implanted in man, is a truth to which 
 Scripture and our own reason and conscience bear 
 a concurrent and consistent testimony. We learn 
 from Scripture that the aid of the Holy Ghost is 
 requisite to the illumination of our understandings, 
 and the renewal and reformation of our hearts. 
 But, at the same time, it presses upon us the neces- 
 sity of intellectual and moral discipline, and exhorts 
 us to do for ourselves, in our own place and pro- 
 portion, the very same things of which it speaks 
 in other passages as the work of God and the Holy 
 Ghost. Reason and conscience likewise teach us, 
 with an evidence which cannot be contradicted, that 
 according to the common tenour of God's dispen- 
 sations, no sensible change takes place in the dis- 
 positions and habits of the mind without our own 
 active co-operation. Whether, therefore, we refer 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 171 
 
 ourselves to the word of God, or follow the track 
 which reason and conscience mark out to us, there 
 is no cause for supposing that the Holy Ghost, when 
 he enlightens and reforms the human soul, acts 
 otherwise than in the order of moral causes, accom- 
 modating his influences to the intellect and moral 
 nature of free and accountable agents, not creating 
 new qualities, nor implanting new faculties, but 
 working upon materials which, though deranged 
 and disordered by the fall, and imjiaired by our 
 own sins, are nevertheless inherent in our consti- 
 tution. 
 
 It is true that these changes take place in various 
 ways, and differ materially in times and seasons, 
 degrees and measures ; but they present no appear- 
 ances inconsistent with the usual relation between 
 moral causes and effects. The same varieties occur 
 in the operation of moral and intellectual causes, 
 where the special agency of the Spirit is confessedly 
 excluded. For though the changes effected by 
 those causes are usually gradual and imperceptible, 
 yet it frequently happens that the powers of the 
 mind and the moral principles are strongly deve- 
 loped at particular seasons, and that important 
 changes, so far as they come within the cognizance 
 of our conscience and memory, may be traced back 
 with great probability to particular occasions. These 
 are matters of frequent occurrence, and are not 
 thought to be miraculous ; and it is natural to 
 
172 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 suppose, that the causes which have led to these 
 striking developments have been working their way 
 in silence, and combining and preparing their effects. 
 But there is no reason to think that those changes 
 which are brought about by spiritual causes, and the 
 supernatural and remedial power ^ of the Holy Ghost, 
 are effected in another manner, or that they are 
 to be referred to the class of miracles or literal 
 creations. Indeed, such a supposition appears in- 
 consistent with the freedom and responsibility of 
 man, and seems to resolve religious improvement 
 into necessity and fatalism. 
 
 But this theory, which contemplates Regeneration 
 as an implantation of habits, or a mystical and 
 miraculous change of all the parts and faculties 
 of the soul, rests on a metaphysical notion, that 
 the change which the Holy Spirit produces in the 
 inward frame of man must commence in all its 
 parts, at some turning point, or precise and definite 
 moment. To analyze the workings of the Holy 
 Spirit, and assign to him a particular time and 
 measure of action, appears, at first sight, an im- 
 prudent and hopeless undertaking. But if this 
 
 ' We cannot either will or do without God's help : He work- 
 eth both in us ; that is, we by His help alone are enabled to do 
 things above our nature. But then we are the persons enabled : 
 and therefore we do these works as we do others, not by the 
 same powers, but in the same manner. Bp. Taylor, U. N. 
 p. 675. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 173 
 
 change is, as we learn from Scripture, the joint 
 produce of divine and human, of spiritual and moral 
 causes, and is, therefore, brought about not in the 
 order of miraculous but of moral effects, the hypo- 
 thesis is unfounded, and the metaphysical data on 
 which it rests are necessarily erroneous. 
 
 Our acquaintance with the operation of moral 
 causes is altogether practical and experimental, and 
 no arguments can be valid and conclusive which are 
 not borne out by an induction of facts and the his- 
 tory of human nature. But uniform experience 
 contradicts the theory which we are examining. 
 For it proves that we have such faculties and prin- 
 ciples in our nature as we might expect to find in 
 the frame and constitution of religious and respon- 
 sible creatures ; that they must be brought into 
 action by instruction and moral discipline ; and that 
 habits of holiness and spiritual discernment are not 
 infused into us, but are formed and matured in the 
 same manner as our other moral and intellectual 
 endowments. The same imperceptible transition 
 from evil to good, the same fusion and absorption 
 of habits, the same process of causes operating in 
 silence, and elements of reformation workins" their 
 way, till they acquire, we know not how, some 
 shape and consistency, characterize those changes 
 which are purely moral, and those which are, pro- 
 perly speaking, religious and spiritual. The reason 
 is obvious. For this is the only method of spiritual 
 
174 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 and supernatural agency which will allow man to 
 work out his own improvement and salvation, as a 
 free and voluntary agent. The Holy Spirit, there- 
 fore, is not bestowed on him ^ to give new properties 
 to his soul, nor to supersede his own faculties and 
 endeavours, but to excite, encourage, and strengthen 
 them, to prevent and correct his will, and to give 
 a right turn and bias to his affections. It is, indeed, 
 generally allowed that evil is not extinguished at 
 any turning point or decisive period, nor mastered 
 by violent and miraculous remedies, but must be 
 encountered and subdued by moral and religious 
 discipline. Nor does analogy or experience justify 
 us in supposing that good principles are developed, 
 or good habits formed in any other manner. 
 
 * It has been a subject of dispute, whether the grace of the 
 Holy Spirit is moral suasion or power. The truth seems to be 
 that it is both. Preventing grace is that influence which the 
 Holy Ghost exercises upon the soul, in turning it from evil, 
 giving a right bias to the will and affections, and bringing into 
 play the good principles of our nature ; and this change must 
 be wrought through the medium of moral instruments. Co- 
 operating grace is that power of the Holy Spirit superadded 
 to our natural faculties, which enables us to do those things, 
 to which the will, when prevented and rectified, prompts and 
 determines us, and to form our good principles into habits by 
 use and exercise. 
 
 Preventing grace requires on man's part consent, or the yield- 
 ing himself to the influence of reasonable evidences and moral 
 arguments and persuasions ; co-operating grace, the active 
 exertion and diligent use of those faculties with which God has 
 endowed him. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 175 
 
 But if this theory of Regeneration is inconsistent 
 with the reason of the thing and the history and 
 experience of our nature, it is no less inconsistent 
 with the genius and purposes of natural and re- 
 vealed religion. For religion, whether natural or 
 revealed, is a moral instrument of improvement and 
 salvation, requiring a moral subject, acting by moral 
 means, tending to a moral end, and producing 
 moral effects. By natural religion, I mean, with- 
 out any reference to the source from whence we 
 derive our knowledge, those first truths and prin- 
 ciples of religion which are addressed to the plain 
 sense and reason of mankind, and when fairly 
 stated and deliberately examined, carry with them 
 the assent of the understanding and conscience. 
 Such are those truths which relate to the difference 
 between good and evil, the nature and will of God, 
 and the duties and responsibility of man. By re- 
 vealed religion, I mean those truths which are 
 addressed principally to our faith, and depend upon 
 testimony ; those especially which are of a remedial 
 nature, and are connected with the fall and recovery 
 of the human soul. 
 
 It is evident, at first sight, that the moral and 
 intellectual improvement of mankind is the end of 
 natural religion, and that it operates by moral means, 
 and in a moral manner. Nor can there be any 
 reasonable doubt that revealed and remedial reli- 
 gion operates in the same way, and in the same 
 
 8 
 
176 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 order of causes. It furnishes new sanctions to 
 God's will and man's duty, and new motives to 
 exertion and improvement. It gives spring and 
 elasticity to the soul, by relieving it from the weight 
 of guilt and the fear of punishment ; and it engages 
 to supply it with spiritual and supernatural assist- 
 ance in framing and perfecting its moral habits, 
 and working out its own salvation. But it does 
 not supersede the obligations of natural religion, 
 nor destroy the established relation between moral 
 and religious causes and effects. For though reve- 
 lation gives a new turn and a supernatural impulse 
 to moral instruments, such as example, instruction, 
 prayer, study, and meditation, it produces no effects 
 in the ordinary and settled course of God's dispensa- 
 tions, without their intervention. 
 
 But the theory which we are examining assumes 
 an entire change in all the jDarts and faculties of the 
 soul as a first step to religious improvement; it 
 supposes that habits of belief and holiness are not 
 formed by moral means and discipline, but im- 
 planted in the soul by a literal creation, or miracu- 
 lous action of the divine power; that previous to 
 this change man is utterly incapable of any spiritual 
 exertion, or any movement of the soul to God and 
 holiness ; that this revolution of the inward firame 
 takes place at some turning point, or at least within 
 some particular compass of time ; and consequently, 
 that habitual godliness is not the moral and legiti- 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 177 
 
 mate, but the necessary consequence of Regenera- 
 tion. In short, it substitutes a scheme of necessity 
 for that system of intellectual and moral discipline 
 in which all the parts and branches of religion, 
 whether natural or revealed, whether addressed to 
 our faith or our reason, uniformly centre. 
 
 But the metaphysical paradoxes of this system 
 depend on some particular views of the doctrine of 
 the fall, and the original and inbred depravity of 
 our common nature. Though the doctrine of ori- 
 ginal sin is plainly deducible from Scripture, it is a 
 subject on which it touches with a moderate and 
 sparing hand ; and it certainly does not warrant the 
 exaggerated descriptions of our natural and neces- 
 sary condition as fallen creatures, which are to be 
 found in the writings of Divines, and in some 
 popular systems of theology. Scripture uniformly 
 speaks of the sinfulness of man in a practical and 
 experimental manner. It lays before us a series of 
 observations arising out of particular facts and oc- 
 casions, or out of a general view of the conduct and 
 character of that portion of mankind with which the 
 inspired writers were conversant. But besides the 
 conclusions which are deducible from Scripture by 
 means of analysis and induction, and the brief but 
 pointed account of the fall recorded in the book of 
 Genesis, there is one passage of St. Paul's Epistles ' 
 
 ' Rom. V. 12, &c. 
 
 N 
 
178 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 in which the origin of evil is referred back in express 
 terms to Adam's transgression, and the prevalence 
 and universality of sin are accounted for upon the 
 principle of an hereditary infection. ]\Ian is there 
 considered as lying under a sentence of condemna- 
 tion, and tainted with moral evil, in consequence of 
 the guilt of our first parent. The Apostle speaks 
 of this doctrine as an acknowledged truth, and 
 infers, in the way of analogy, the universality of our 
 recovery and redemption in Christ from the univer- 
 sality of our fall and condemnation in Adam, as a 
 principle which he might safely assume for a medium 
 of comparison and illustration. But he does not 
 tell us what is the precise nature of that condemna- 
 tion which has been brought upon us by the fall, 
 independently of our own personal sins ; nor does 
 he attempt to define the extent and virulence of 
 that infection of nature which has been entailed 
 upon us by descent and derivation. 
 
 The ancient Christians handled the fall of man 
 with the same reserve and moderation, treating this 
 original infection of his nature not as a speculative 
 but a practical doctrine, and resolving that state of 
 condemnation, in which he is placed previously to 
 his call, election, regeneration, into the just but 
 incomprehensible judgment of God. Calvin indeed 
 finds ^ fault Avith them for not delivering their 
 
 ' Postquam in Ada obliteraia fu'it cceleslis imago, non solus 
 sustinuit banc poenain, ut in locum sapientiae, virtutis, sanctitatis, 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 179 
 
 opinion on this subject with sufficient decision and 
 perspicuity. But they acted soberly and wisely 
 for they acknowledged the fact, but did not at- 
 tempt to explain it systematically, or to define the 
 nature of the evil with precision, because they knew 
 that such an attempt was not warranted by Scripture. 
 But the theologians, whose theory we are now 
 canvassing, have pronounced their judgment upon 
 this question in a tone of dogmatism, to which 
 neither Scripture nor experience give any sanction, 
 and have painted out the nature and character of 
 original sin, and the necessary and universal conse- 
 quences of the fall, in tragical and aggravated 
 colours \ According to their system, the immediate 
 
 veritatis, justitise, teterrimae succederent pestes, caecitas, impa- 
 tientia, impuritas, vanitas, injustitia : sed iisdem quoque miseriis 
 implicuit suam progeniem ac immersit. Hasc est lisereditaria cor- 
 ruptio, quam peccatum originale veteres nuncuparunt, peccati voce 
 intelligentes naturae antea bonae puraeque depravationera. Qua de 
 re multa fuit illis concertatio, quum a communi sensu nihil magis 
 sit remotum, quam ob unius culpam fieri omnesreos, et ita pecca- 
 tum fieri commune. Quae videtur ratio fuisse vetustissimis Ec- 
 clesiae doctoribus, cur obscure tantiim perstringerent hoc caput, 
 saltern minus dilucide quam par erat, explicarent. Calv. Inst, 
 1. ii. c. 1. s. 5. 
 
 What their doctrine on this head was may be learned from 
 Wall's Infant Baptism. It is most certain that they uniformly 
 acknowledged this truth, and grounded upon it the necessity of 
 redemption and regeneration in Baptism. See likewise Bp. 
 Tomline on the 9th Article. Elements, vol. ii. p. 235. 
 
 ' Quicquid ingenium nostrum concipit, agitat, instituit, molitur, 
 semper malum est. Ita 
 
 n2 
 
180 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 consequence of the fall was the obliteration of God's 
 i ma ore from the soul of man. Hence he became an 
 unmixed mass of depravity and corruption, without 
 one spark or remnant of goodness ; necessarily de- 
 termined to evil in every choice and action, can- 
 kered and rotten to the very core, utterly averse 
 from God, and reduced to a state of confusion, dis- 
 order, rebellion, blindness, and impotency, without 
 one redeeming principle, or counteracting tendency. 
 Such, they tell us, is the extent of this depravity, 
 that even an infant is necessarily odious and abomi- 
 nable in God's sight, because he contains within 
 
 Itaex omni parte vitiata corruptaque est voluntas, ut nihil nisi 
 malum generet — Anima non ex vitiis modo laborat, sed omni 
 bono prorsus vacua est — Non dicit (Joh. xv. 1.) nos esse 
 intirmiores, quam qui nobis sufficiamus ; sed nos ad nihilum 
 redigendo omnem vel exiguae facultatuloe opinionem excludit. 
 Inst. 1. ii. c. 3, s. 9. 
 
 Stet ergo nobis indubia ilia Veritas, quae nullis machinamentis 
 quatefieri potest. Mentem homiuis sic alienatam prorsus a Dei 
 justitia, ut nihil non impium, coniortum, foedum, impurum, Jlagi- 
 tiosum concipint : cor feccati veneno ita penitus delihutum esse, 
 ut nihil quam corruptiim fcetorem effiare queat. Quod si quip- 
 piam interdum boni in speciem ostendat, mentem tamen semper 
 hypocrisi et fallaci obliquitate involutam, animum interiore per- 
 versitate illigatum manere. c. 5. s. 19. 
 
 The image of God was blotted out, so that man is no longer a 
 free agent : hence his unregencrate state is a state of mere 
 confusion, disorder, rebellion, blindness, impotency, and aver- 
 sion from God — Not so much as one good thought could 
 ever yet escape to heaven free from it. Bp. Hopkins, vol. ii. 
 p. 479. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 181 
 
 him the seeds and principles of every kind of 
 wickedness \ 
 
 Sometimes they attempt to account for this de- 
 pravity, and for the sentence of condemnation which 
 has passed upon fallen man, by borrowing from the 
 schoolmen a fabulous account of a certain compact 
 between God and Adam, in which he was supposed 
 to covenant for all his descendants, and to bind them 
 down to the consequences of his own conduct, as 
 their federal head and representative. Hence, we 
 are told, the sin of Adam became legally and 
 forensically their own sin, and they were, on prin- 
 ciples of justice and natural equity, as deep in the 
 transgression as Adam himself, and as liable to the 
 pains and penalties denounced against it ^ 
 
 Sometimes they account for this utter corrup- 
 
 * Tota eorum (infantium) natura quoddam est peccati semen : 
 ideo non odiosa et abominabilis Deo esse non potest. 1. ii. 
 c. 1. s. 18. 
 
 This history of imputation was proposed to the Council of 
 Trent by Catharin, one of the most eminent of the schoolmen of 
 those days, as a solution of the doctrine of original sin. It 
 afterwards became a fashionable doctrine among the scholastic 
 Calvinists*. Dr. S. Ward has a treatise on the subject, in 
 which his arguments are avowedly borrowed from the writings of 
 Catharin. The same scheme of imputation was maintained by 
 Bishop Davenant on the authority of the schoolmen, (Preface to 
 Whitby on the five Points,) and is stated with perfect confidence 
 as evangelical doctrine by Bishop Hopkins in his Sermons, 
 which he entitles " The Doctrine of the two Covenants." 
 
 * Praelectiones de peccato originali, c. 13 & 14. 
 
182 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 tiou of our nature on j^rinciples of philosophical 
 analysis. Man, they tell us, by transgressing the 
 divine law, became liable to punishment: hence, 
 he contracted a deep enmity against God, as the 
 avenger of sin, and, in consequence, became hostile 
 to the very principle of holiness, and tainted to the 
 core with moral and spiritual corruption. They 
 teach us, with a great show of metaphysical precision, 
 but in contradiction to the history, and experience 
 of mankind, in what way the intellect, the will, and 
 the affections of fallen man are darkened, distorted, 
 and polluted, by the action of the intellect upon the 
 will, and of the will upon the affections. In this 
 state of utter depravity, natural antipathy to holi- 
 ness, and deep-rooted hatred of God himself, he 
 cannot be restored by the ordinary operation of 
 spiritual remedies and moral discijiline, but must 
 undergo an entire change of all the parts and 
 faculties of the soul, before he can experience any 
 desire of improvement, or any movement of the soul 
 to God. For if the image of God is obliterated in 
 man, if his understanding is entirely darkened, his 
 will altogether perverse, and incapable of choosing 
 any thing but sin ; if his affections are totally 
 depraved, if there is no spark or relic of good in his 
 whole inward frame \ if he is a mere compound of 
 
 ' From that time every man who is born into the world, bears 
 the image of the devil in pride and self-will — the image of the 
 beast in sensual appetites and desires. — John Wesley. Southey's 
 Life of Wesley, vol. ii. p. 1G9. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 183 
 
 beast and devil, if he is actuated by a real and literal 
 hatred of God, and a fierce aversion to his holy law, 
 man cannot be -restored to his favour, nor to any 
 capacity for holiness, without a new creation, in the 
 strict sense of the word, and a miraculous infusion 
 of new faculties and habits. 
 
 Regeneration, therefore, is described as that turn- 
 ing point and broad line of demarcation, which sepa- 
 rates two essentially different and diametrically 
 opposite states of mind ; and is said to consist in a 
 radical change of the parts and faculties of the 
 soul, and an implantation of a habit of grace and 
 holiness. 
 
 Such are the theological principles on which this 
 theory of Regeneration is founded ; and I would ask 
 what warrant we have in Scripture or experience 
 for these aggravated descriptions of human depra- 
 vity, considered as the natural and direct conse- 
 quence of the fall ? or upon what basis of Scriptural 
 truth and simplicity either that history of imputa- 
 tion, or that philosophical scheme and analysis of 
 original sin, have been constructed ? It is a danger- 
 ous thing to attempt to improve upon Scripture, to 
 venture upon hypotheses, and indulge ourselves in 
 philosophical systems and speculations, where Scrip- 
 ture confines itself to practical observations, and in- 
 structs us in the way of induction. 
 
 This theory confounds in one coarse and undis- 
 tinguishing picture all the various degrees of wicked- 
 
184 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 ness, which the history of mankind exhibits to us, 
 and assumes the most corrupt and degraded state of 
 intellect and morals, of which man is capable, as the 
 standard and pattern of our fallen nature. Man, 
 indeed, since the fall, is " very far gone from original 
 righteousness," and has contracted a strong bias to 
 evil in his will and affections, and a visible tendency 
 to decay both in intellect and morals. But the 
 most degenerate condition of the most ignorant and 
 most profligate of his kind is not his natural state, 
 nor the immediate and universal consequence of 
 the fall. In the midst of his debasement and inhe- 
 rent bias to evil, he inherits many relics of his better 
 self, principles of moral goodness, and distinct linea- 
 ments of that image of God in which he was created ; 
 and, whatever his 23i'actice may be, the judgments 
 of his understanding, and the decisions of his con- 
 science are usually on the side *of virtue and morality, 
 unless his intellect has been degraded by ignorance 
 and bad education, or his conscience seared by 
 habits of profligacy, and an universal corruption of 
 manners. 
 
 Nothing is more evident to common sense than 
 the progress and increase of vicious habits in indivi- 
 duals. So far as fallen man is acquainted with his 
 duty, St. Paul's personification of his own country- 
 men ^ describes the contest which exists within him 
 
 ^ Or, as Barrow says, ** He speaketh in the person of a man 
 endowed with natural strength, abstracting from the subsidiary 
 
I 
 
 DOCTRINE OF REGENERATIOX IN BAPTISM. ] 85 
 
 in an early stage of his sinful courses, between 
 concupiscence and evil affections, and the dictates 
 of reason and conscience K But habits of sin, unless 
 counteracted by sound instruction and moral disci- 
 virtue and operation of the Holy Ghost." In fact, what St. Paul 
 is led by the tenour of his argument to say of the Jews in particu- 
 lar, applies by analogy to all persons who are in the same or simi- 
 lar circumstances. 
 
 ^ Romans vii. 7 — 25. It has been contended that St. Paul 
 in this passage is speaking in his own person as a servant and 
 apostle of Christ, or to use a popular expression, as a truly rege- 
 nerate man. 
 
 This view of the passage, which is contrary to the main 
 current of ancient opinion, is not the result of investigation, 
 analysis, comparison, or any received ground and principle of in- 
 terpretation ; but is built on a conceit, that the man who is not 
 living under the influence of the grace of Christ, necessarily hates 
 the law of God, and the principle of holiness, and therefore cannot 
 jvill what is good, nor delight in, that is, approve and admire, his 
 law. 
 
 It is totally irrelevant to the Apostle's argument, and inter- 
 rupts the thread and context of his discourse. 
 
 It is contrary to reason, common sense, and common expe- 
 rience. 
 
 It is inconsistent with one main end and design of the Gospel : 
 which is, to deliver men from the dominion of sin, and to enable 
 them not only to will but to do what is good ; not only to 
 delight in, or to approve, the law of God, but to delight to do his 
 will. 
 
 It is in opposition to the whole tenour of the New Testament, 
 to the drift of the Apostle's arguments and reasonings in this 
 Epistle, and to the scope of the controversy in which he is 
 engaged. 
 
 It is not merely irrelevant to, but overthrows and destroys 
 the course of argument, exhortation, caution, and encouragemnt 
 which St. Paul is pursuing in the 6th, 7th, and 8th chapters of 
 this Epistle. 
 
186 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 pline, gain ground upon him, till be abandons him- 
 self to them without constraint or reluctance, keeps 
 out of sight all obligations to duty, and silences the 
 warnings and visitations of conscience. And expe- 
 rience teaches us that the corruption of public 
 morals, and the increasing degeneracy of our com- 
 mon nature, proceed onward in the same order and 
 analogy. Hence, those passages of Scripture which 
 describe in glowing colours the lamentable igno- 
 rance, the idolatrous habits, and the corrupt morals 
 of the heathen world, or the degenerate state of the 
 inspired writers' countrymen and contemporaries, 
 and are pictures of the increase and predominance 
 of evil, and of the worst men in the worst times, 
 must not be construed into descriptions of human 
 nature in the abstract, or, to use a common phrase, 
 of imregenerate man. For we are no more justified 
 in forming our estimate of human nature from the 
 principles and characters of the most abandoned of 
 our fellow-creatures, than in forming our estimate 
 of the general condition of believers in Christ from 
 what we hear and see of the holiest and best of 
 God's servants. 
 
 History, indeed, teaches us that the ignorance 
 and moral corruption of the heathens were most 
 deplorable : and St. Paul accounts for the sad state 
 of the great mass of mankind from the natural pro- 
 gress of evil habits, considered not merely as the 
 effect of the fall, but as the judicial consequence of 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 1 87 
 
 idolatry, and apostacy from the primitive and patri- 
 archal religion. But even here there are some 
 bright spots and examples of better principles and 
 morals, sufficient to refute an hypothesis which 
 confounds all degrees and varieties of evil, and 
 expunges from the soul, by one sweeping sentence, 
 every tendency to good, and every lineament of its 
 original resemblance to God. 
 
 In fact, there are few of those good dispositions 
 which, when nurtured by the grace of God, and 
 formed into habits by religious instruction and the 
 inspiration of the Holy Ghost, are justly denomi- 
 nated spiritual accomplishments, of which we do 
 not discover some imperfect traces in the history 
 of the heathen world. It is easy to assert that all 
 their virtues were sins, and equally damnable with 
 their worst vices. Many of what they deemed 
 virtues were in reality sins; their virtues were at 
 the best exceedingly imperfect, and fell far short of 
 the Christian standard ; and they could have no 
 value in God's sight, nor any claim to an everlasting 
 reward. Still, as far as they proceeded on right 
 principles, and aimed at good ends, and especially 
 when they had an obscure reference to the will of a 
 sovereign and supreme Being, they were, jjroperly 
 speaking, virtues, and plain indications of the pur- 
 poses of our creation, and of the original fashion 
 and tendencies of our nature. St. Paul, therefore, 
 justly argues, that ivhen the Gentiles which have not 
 
188 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 the law do hy nature the things of the law^ these having 
 not the law are a law unto themselves^ which shew the 
 work of the law written in their hearts ': and seems 
 to intimate that some of their number may have 
 attained to peace and glory through God's great 
 goodness and uncovenanted mercy. Glory, honour, 
 and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew 
 first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of 
 persons with God ^ 
 
 It is almost needless to examine that metaphy- 
 sical system, which ascribes the taint and corruption 
 of human nature to man's hostility to the principle 
 of holiness, and then attributes this hostility to his 
 inveterate hatred of God, as the avenger of sin; 
 or that account of original sin, which refers back 
 the corruption of the affections to the perverseness 
 of the will, and the perverseness of the will to the 
 absolute darkness and distortion of the intellect. 
 For these notions have no colour of scriptural autho- 
 rity, and are contradicted by the history and expe- 
 rience of human nature. Man, indeed, when his 
 conscience upbraids him with his sins, endeavours 
 to silence its reproaches, and withdraws his mind, 
 as much as possible, from the thought of God, and 
 from the fear of the consequences; but he does 
 not naturally hate God as the avenger of sin. His 
 habits are too often directly opposed to the prin- 
 
 * Rom. ii. 14, 15. * Rom. ii. 10. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 189 
 
 ciple of holiness, in consequence of the corrupt state 
 of his affections ; but he is not naturally hostile to 
 the principle of holiness itself 
 
 In the system of which I am speaking there are 
 no paradoxes more common, and at the same time 
 less conformable to the fact, or to the truth of 
 Scripture, than that man naturally hates God, and 
 has a fierce antipathy to his laws, or rather to the 
 very principle of holiness. If by hating God we 
 mean, according to the scriptural phraseology, not 
 loving him as we ought, and preferring our own 
 passions and devices to his will and wisdom, in this 
 sense man may be said, with great propriety, to hate 
 God, and his whole history bears witness to the 
 truth of this scriptural lesson. Nor is it less true 
 that man has an antipathy to God's laws, if by 
 antipathy we mean an inherent unwillingness to 
 attend to them and obey them, and a dislike to their 
 restraints and provisions. But the theory before 
 us speaks of " fierce antipathies " and " inveterate 
 hatred," and represents man as hating God, and 
 resisting his will, on principle and system : not as 
 disliking and fretting against the restraints which 
 are imposed upon his sensual and selfish desires, but 
 as actuated by a determined animosity to those 
 principles of holiness, to which God's laws are con- 
 formed : as hating God because he is God ; and 
 goodness in the abstract, because it is goodness ; and 
 loving evil for evil's sake. 
 
190 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 But the truth is, that if man ever does positively 
 hate God, and the principles on which his laws are 
 grounded, this state of mind is so far from being 
 natural, that it can only be the effect of great 
 degeneracy, of deplorable and brutal ignorance, or 
 of confirmed habits of wickedness and impiety. The 
 history of our nature furnishes us with ample proofs 
 of our weakness and vanity, our low views, our 
 supineness and self-sufficiency, and our dislike of 
 serious exercises and self-inquiry ; of the perverse- 
 ness of our wills, and the corrupt state of our affec- 
 tions ; of our proneness to evil, and unwillingness to 
 submit to wholesome restraints and moral discipline. 
 But it does not bear us out in affirming that the 
 natural man is actuated by a settled hatred of God, 
 or a fierce antipathy to holiness. We shall there- 
 fore speak more consistently with the fact, if we 
 allow that the corruption of human nature, when 
 aggravated by habits of sin, leads men by degrees 
 to an hostility to the principle of holiness, and that 
 this hostility to the principle of holiness may, in 
 extreme cases, end in a direct hatred of God him- 
 self ; and if we affirm, generally speaking, that the 
 passions and will of fallen man, instead of being 
 misled by the intellect, impair the faculties, darken 
 the vision, and pervert the judgments of his under- 
 standing. 
 
 Some of those divines, who ground the necessity 
 of such a change, as this theory of Regeneration 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 1 9 I 
 
 exhibits, on these views of the depravity of human 
 nature, allow, nevertheless, that there may be, com- 
 paratively speaking, different degrees of moral good- 
 ness in unregenerate men ; but they contend that 
 they are all equally deficient in spiritual goodness. 
 If it is meant that man cannot of himself attain to 
 those kinds and degrees of goodness which must, 
 upon scriptural principles, be wrought in him by 
 the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, this is 
 a truism which no one will attempt to controvert. 
 For all parties to this debate confess, with our 
 Church, that " the condition of man after the fall 
 is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by 
 his own natural strength and good works, to faith 
 and calling upon God : and that, therefore, we can 
 have no power to do good works, pleasant and accept- 
 able to God, without the grace of God by Christ 
 preventing us that we may have a good will, and 
 working with us when we have that good will ^" 
 But there seems to be some confusion in the notion 
 which these divines entertain of the difference 
 between spiritual and moral habits and actions ^. 
 For this difference does not consist in the order 
 
 ^ Article X. 
 
 ^ Spiritual goodness is, in fact, the perfection and improve- 
 ment of moral goodness wrought in the human soul by the help 
 and instrumentality of the Holy Ghost, having God's will for 
 its rule, and God's glory and the happiness of a life to come for 
 its end. 
 
192 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 and nature of the things themselves, the manner of 
 acting, or the faculties of the agent, but in the law 
 or rule to which they are conformed, in their effi- 
 cient and instrumental, and in their final causes. 
 ]\Ioral habits and actions, though they have not 
 that perfection which can render them pleasing and 
 acceptable to God, and are not necessarily conformed 
 to his declared will, but to the rules of right reason 
 and experimental wisdom, are, nevertheless, so far 
 as they go, good in themselves, because they are 
 conformed to a moral law, (and every moral law is, 
 in a certain sense, an express of God's will,) and 
 imply a right choice and a voluntary principle of 
 action. But if there are still some good principles 
 and remains of moral goodness in man's constitution, 
 though they require religious disciiDline and instruc- 
 tion, and the preventing and co-operating power of 
 the Holy Ghost, to bring them into play and mould 
 them into spiritual habits, they plainly contradict the 
 more exaggerated representations of man's natural 
 depravity, and remove the necessity of such a change 
 as this theory designates by the word Regeneration 
 — a creation of new faculties and habits, and a 
 miraculous transformation of the whole inward 
 frame. 
 
 We are told, however, that the broad and decisive 
 distinction laid down in Scripture between nature 
 and grace, and between natural and spiritual men, 
 necessarily implies and involves this spiritual 
 
I 
 
 DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 193 
 
 change. The distinction between nature and grace 
 is not a scriptural but a scholastic distinction, and 
 is, I apprehend, somewhat inaccurate. For the 
 true distinction does not seem to lie between nature 
 and grace, but between nature left to its own bias 
 and counsels, and nature reformed and invigorated 
 by God's Word and Spirit. But the scriptural 
 distinction between spiritual and natural ^ (animal 
 or carnal) men is altogether practical. For it does 
 not imply any precise instant in which the under- 
 standing begins to be enlightened, the will to be 
 reformed, and the affections to be purified, but 
 
 ' 1 Cor. ii. 14. ■*'u)(tK'oc. The word 7ri/£v/fan/cde, in this 
 passage of Scripture, is equivalent to riXsioc, and signifies a 
 Christian well advanced in the knowledge and practice of his 
 religion, and is not only opposed to unbelievers, whom St. 
 Paul calls here, by a comparative and degrading expression, 
 ■^pvx^iKovQ, but to Christian novices, or babes, whose schismatical 
 conduct showed that they had made small progress in religious 
 knowledge and practice, and whom he calls, by a similar figure, 
 aapKiKovQ. 
 
 'SP'uj^*) properly signifies the animal principle opposed to vovg, 
 or the reasonable principle — the eTndvurj-iKov to the ijye^oviKov. 
 But St. Paul considers the unbeliever, who had not received the 
 S2:)irit of God, as no better than »//v)^i/coc — a mere animal man ; 
 and then contemplates the weak, imperfect Christian, who was 
 not walking after the Spirit, as no better than o-op/ci/coc, still 
 walking after the flesh, the natural or animal principle of action. 
 But he calls these converts carnal, not in the strictest sense, as 
 men utterly devoid of the Spirit of grace, (for he afterwards 
 speaks of them as temples of the Holy Ghost,) but in the way of 
 comparison and reproof, on account of their intestine divisions, 
 and the small progress which they had made in spiritual know- 
 ledge and habits. 
 
194 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 points out the real and practical difference between 
 believers and unbelievers, between those men who 
 had been instructed by the Gospel and enlightened 
 and purified by the Spirit of Christ, and those men 
 who were following the bent of their natural passions 
 and propensities, or, at the best, had no better guides 
 than their unassisted reason, or the wisdom of the 
 schools and the philosophers. It is easy to bring 
 together passages of Scripture which describe in 
 strong and glowing figures the lamentable state of 
 the unconverted Gentiles, and the happy change 
 which had taken place in the converts to the 
 Gospel, and by the help of rhetorical colouring and 
 comments to make them bear upon an opinion to 
 which they have, in fact, no relation. But I am 
 confident, that this theory receives no support from 
 Scripture, explained on just and legitimate prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 It has been contended, likewise, that man, being, 
 subsequently to the fall, spiritually dead, cannot 
 perform any spiritual acts whatever till he is spiri- 
 tually regenerated. This argument is put forward 
 in various forms. Sometimes we find it stated in 
 the shape of a dilemma ; sometimes as a postulate, 
 which no reasonable man can call in question. For 
 it is contended, that as no natural acts can be per- 
 formed previous to the natural birth, so, on prin- 
 ciples of analogy, no spiritual acts can be performed 
 previous to the spiritual birth. Upon this ground 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 195 
 
 it is affirmetl, that every adult recipient who is 
 duly qualified for Baptism, must necessarily be 
 regenerated before the sacrament, because no man 
 can believe, or repent, or perform any other spiritual 
 acts, till he has been born again. Thus, St. Paul 
 was regenerated before his Baptism ^, because he 
 prayed, and his prayer was accepted ; Cornelius, 
 
 ^ This notion that St. Paul was regenerated before Baptism, 
 though directly opposite to the plain sense of Scripture, has been 
 strenuously maintained by Calvin and his followers, and urged 
 as an example to prove that all believers are regenerate before 
 Baptism. 
 
 Jam erant dimissa Paulo peccata : non igitur baptismo demiim 
 ablutus est, sed novam gratise quam adeptus est confirmationem 
 accepit. Calvin ad Act. xxii. 16. 
 
 Dicimur accipere, obtinere, impetrare, quod quantum ad fidei 
 nostree sensum nobis a Domino exhibetur ; sive id turn primum 
 testatur, sive testatum magis ac certius confirmat. Hoc itaque 
 tantum voluit Ananias. Ut certus sis, Paule, remissa tibi esse 
 peccata, baptizare. Promittit enim Dominus in Baptismo remis- 
 sionem peccatorum, banc accipe et securus esto. — Calvin Inst. 
 1. iv. c. 15. § 15. 
 
 Dr. Ward, speaking of the passages of Scripture to which 
 Calvin and his followers gave this turn, (Acts ii. 38 ; xxii. 16; 
 Mark xvi. 16.) says, Quid ante baptismum Deus fecerat arcana 
 sua voluntate pro talibus baptizandis Apostoli nee judicare, nee 
 prassumere potuerunt ; sed in ipso baptismo dari remissionem, 
 ac fieri ablutionem peccatorum virtute sanguinis Christi omnibus 
 in Christum credentibus, et pr^sumsisse et docuisse videntur 
 Apostoli. Atque hac spe nixi ad Baptismum accedebant Chris- 
 tiani, atque in hunc sensum veteres hsec loca intellexerunt. Diss, 
 p. 108. 
 
 This is the plain sense of Scripture ; and there can be no 
 doubt that such was not only the phraseology and apparent doc- 
 trine, but the firm belief and feeling of the ancient Christians. 
 See Archbishop Laurence, part ii. p. 72, 73. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 because he was a devout man and feared God, and 
 his 'prayers and alms had gone up for a memorial 
 before God. But we cannot argue from the literal 
 to the metaphorical use of a word, any farther than 
 the point of comparison extends. Hence this analo- 
 gical argument is, to place it in the most favourable 
 point of view, evidently inconclusive, because it 
 assumes the very question in debate — what is the 
 point of comparison in which the resemblance between 
 the natural and spiritual, or, in other words, between 
 the literal and metaphorical birth, consists? But, 
 according to the established theory of the Church, 
 grounded, as I apprehend, on plain and unexcep- 
 tionable scriptural authority, this point of compari- 
 son is the passage from one state of existence to 
 another. That passage from a state of death and 
 condemnation in Adam to a state of life and jus- 
 tification in Christ, which Scripture represents as 
 taking place in Baptism, is compared with the pas- 
 sage of an infant from the darkness and confinement 
 of the womb into the light of day and freedom of 
 motion. But according to this view of the phrase, 
 and the doctrine which it implies, it is so far from 
 being true that spiritual acts, — such acts, I mean, as 
 centre in God, and are performed by the inspiration 
 of the Holy Ghost — cannot take place previous to 
 the new birth, that in the case of adult converts 
 spiritual acts must necessarily precede Regenera- 
 tion. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 197 
 
 If by spiritual acts we mean such habits and 
 actions as are pleasing and acceptable to God in 
 Christ, and have the promise of the life to come, 
 according to the tenour of the Christian covenant, 
 such acts, speaking in general terms, cannot be per- 
 formed previously to Regeneration. For the Scrip- 
 tures teach us that no man is released from his 
 sins and reconciled to God till he is grafted .into 
 Christ, and, consequently, that no acts can be con- 
 sidered as Christian acts, or acts of covenanted 
 holiness, till this change of spiritual condition has 
 taken place. But our Church very properly con- 
 cludes from the same Scriptures, that this change 
 takes place in Baptism ; that " a death to sin and 
 a new birth to righteousness is the inward and 
 spiritual grace of this sacrament ;" and that we who 
 " are by nature born in sin and the children of 
 wrath, are hereby made children of grace" — or, in 
 other words, " members of Christ, children of God, 
 and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 Having now examined at some length the theory 
 which has been opposed with the greatest confi- 
 dence to that doctrine of baptismal Regeneration, 
 which has been explained and defended in this 
 Treatise, I will leave it to the judgment of the 
 reader, whether it is more consistent with reason, 
 experience, and Scripture, than the theory univer- 
 sally maintained by the ancient Christians, and 
 adopted by our own Church. But this theory. 
 
198 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 connected as it is with aggravated notions of the 
 depravity of our common nature, and systematic 
 and metaphysical views of the effect of the fall, is 
 encumbered with some difficulties and leads to 
 some consequences, to which it will be necessary to 
 advert. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 199 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A REVIEW OF SOME DIFFICULTIES WITH WHICH THE 
 THEORY OF REGENERATION, EXAMINED IN THE 
 PRECEDING CHAPTER, IS ENCUMBERED, AND OF 
 SOME CONSEQUENCES WHICH IT INVOLVES. 
 
 We have seen that the doctrine of Reofeneration in 
 Baptism, in its simplest and most unsophisticated 
 form, was universally received in the Catholic and 
 Apostolical Churches, till it was altered and under- 
 mined, and either virtually annihilated, or openly ex- 
 punged from the list of orthodox doctrines, in defer- 
 ence to that scheme of necessity, which superadded 
 the doctrine of the indefectihility of true grace to the 
 system of the ancient Predestinarians. This theory 
 of Regeneration, therefore, is an integral part of 
 what is commonly called the Calvinistic system, 
 and is encumbered with the difficulties to which 
 
200 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 that system is subject, and the consequences which 
 it involves. 
 
 Natural and revealed religion are, as has been 
 observed, moral instruments of reformation and 
 improvement, and are intended to promote the wel- 
 fare of man, as a rational and moral agent. A reli- 
 gion, therefore, which considers life and death, 
 happiness and misery, as the consequences of dif- 
 ferent moral habits ; of belief and unbelief, virtue 
 and vice, holiness and wickedness, obedience and 
 disobedience to the will of God ; is, in the very 
 nature of the thing, probationary, and must be 
 looked upon as a sort of touchstone to prove and 
 try the tempers and understandings of those men, 
 to whom it is sufficiently propounded. Such is the 
 drift of that religious system which the Scriptures 
 exhibit to us ; and they give us no reason to think, 
 that the remedial and supernatural branches of 
 religion are intended to supersede or alter its ori- 
 ginal essence and constitution. Thus, the truths 
 and promises of the Gospel are proposed to the faith 
 of mankind. But though man cannot believe the 
 Gospel to any saving purposes, without the grace of 
 God preventing him and working with him, still the 
 grace of God and the power of the Holy Ghost 
 suppose an honest and ingenuous use of his own 
 faculties, and a disposition to assent to the truths 
 and rely upon the promises, when he has sufficient 
 evidence that they proceed from God. Thus the 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 20 1 
 
 Gospel presses upon him the necessity of moral 
 improvement and obedience to God's will. But 
 though it supplies him with motives and encourage- 
 ments to well-doing, and j^romises of supernatural 
 assistance, it uniformly supposes a free choice and 
 a principle of self-action. So that the Gospel is 
 in truth not only the salvation, but the trial and 
 proof of fallen man ; and always supposes principles 
 of action analogous to his trial, and the right use 
 of faculties which he already possesses. 
 
 But the theory before us contemplates man, in 
 his unregenerate state, as totally devoid of all those 
 principles and faculties, which the religion of the 
 Gospel requires ; and then supposes that the Rege- 
 neration, without which he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of God, consists in the creation or infusion 
 of new habits, or a radical change of all the parts 
 and faculties of the soul, effected by an act of omni- 
 potence. Thus that probationary scheme of reli- 
 gion which Scripture, in its plain and unsophisticated 
 sense, inculcates, is superseded by a system of pure 
 necessity. For in this theory, where the same word 
 is preached, and the same sacraments are ministered, 
 the Spirit is given or withholden, life and death, 
 salvation and condemnation, are dealt out to the 
 several individuals of mankind, not according to the 
 plain terms of the charter, but according to some 
 secret determination of the Divine counsels. The 
 regenerate must necessarily believe and be saved. 
 
202 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 The unregenerate, (those, that is, who live and die 
 in a state of unbelief and impenitence) are precluded 
 from belief and salvation by a decree which cannot 
 be infringed, and a concatenation of causes and 
 effects which it is impossible to suspend or inter- 
 rupt. 
 
 The history of ecclesiastical opinion shows that 
 this theory is a branch of that system of necessity, 
 which supposes that true grace and all the qualities 
 and virtues which it implies, are in their very nature 
 indefectible; that when man has been once justi- 
 fied in God's sight, he cannot fall from this state of 
 salvation ; and that the principle implanted in him 
 in his Regeneration cannot be suspended nor extin- 
 guished, but must necessarily produce the fruits of 
 holiness. There are, however, some divines who 
 reject the Calvinistic system of predestination and 
 indefectible grace, and yet maintain this theory of 
 original sin and regeneration. Their notion is, that 
 in consequence of the state to which man is reduced 
 by the fall, he cannot repent, or believe, or perform 
 any acts of a spiritual kind, without first experienc- 
 ing a new creation of habits, or an entire and radical 
 change of all the parts and faculties of the soul ; 
 and, consequently, that habitual holiness, being the 
 necessary effect, or rather, the very essence of this 
 change, is the sole criterion of Regeneration. But 
 they allow, that after he has been born again he is 
 in the same condition with Adam in his state of 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 203 
 
 uprightness, and may depart from grace given, and 
 relinquish the habits of hoHness which have been 
 planted in him. 
 
 Yet, even under this modification, this theory of 
 Regeneration still hinges upon necessity, and ex- 
 cludes the voluntary agency of man from any share 
 in believing the Gospel, and the conversion of the 
 soul to holiness. Where the same word is preached, 
 and the same sacrament is ministered. Regeneration 
 is still supposed to be bestowed on some men, and 
 withholden from others, not according to the plain 
 sense of the promise, but upon some unknown 
 grounds of particular selection or special favourit- 
 ism. Some men believe and are saved, because 
 they are born again. Other men do not believe 
 and are damned, because they are not endowed with 
 this special gift of Regeneration. 
 
 Scripture, however, speaks of the rejection of the 
 Gospel, not as the consequence of our hereditary 
 impotence, and the depravity of our common nature, 
 but as the personal sin of the unbeliever ; not 
 merely as the effect of that spiritual blindness 
 which is derived to him from Adam, and, as is con- 
 tended, can only be removed by a radical change of 
 the intellectual faculties, but of a wilful indisposi- 
 tion to receive the truth, and surrender himself to 
 sufficient evidences. When our Saviour commanded 
 his Apostles to preach the Gospel to all nations, he 
 did not add that he who is born again shall believe, 
 
204 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 and he who believeth and is baptized shall he 
 saved ; but only, that he that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved: implying certainly, upon common 
 principles of interpretation, that every one to whom 
 the Gospel is preached, may, if he will, believe and 
 be saved. He does not say, that he who is not 
 regenerated, will not believe and will be damned; 
 but simply, that he that believeth not shall be damned : 
 implying that unbelief is an act of personal default, 
 and voluntary opposition to God's testimony and 
 Spirit. 
 
 But this theory of Regeneration is not only encum- 
 bered with the difficulties which result from the 
 substitution of necessity for probation, as the hinge 
 and pivot of religion ; but it is built on such views 
 of the depravity of human nature, as can scarcely be 
 cleared from the imputation of making God, by 
 plain and necessary consequence, the cause and 
 author of our sins. Sober and scriptural notions of 
 original sin are in no respect contrary to God's 
 justice and equity, and the analogies of his moral 
 and providential government. That fallen man 
 should have forfeited his favour, and be lying, in 
 some sense or other, under a sentence of condemna- 
 tion, even previous to all actual transgressions, is a 
 doctrine which, while we content ourselves with the 
 simplicity of the scriptural statement, and do not 
 attempt to explain the nature, and describe the 
 particulars of this condemnation, contradicts no 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 205 
 
 principle of reason. That man's nature should have 
 been tainted and enervated by the sin of his first 
 parents, and should have contracted a bias to evil, 
 and a tendency to decay, is what experience and 
 analogy would obviously lead us to expect. These 
 views of original sin are sufficient to convince us of 
 the reasonableness and necessity of a dispensation, 
 which ensures to us redemption from guilt and con- 
 demnation, and supernatural assistance to enable us 
 to gain ground upon the infection of our nature, and 
 to counteract our propensity to evil, and our ten- 
 dency to decay. But it is not the natural effect of 
 sin to wipe out at once all good from the soul, and 
 to reduce the sinner and all his posterity from a 
 state of purity and uprightness to a state of total 
 corruption and unmixed depravity, of antipathy to 
 God, and enmity to the principle of holiness. If 
 then such a change as this did really take place at 
 the fall, it must have been effected by an act of 
 omnipotence : for nothing less than an act of 
 almighty power could have produced at once such 
 an universal revolution in all the faculties of the 
 soul, and swept away from it every good principle 
 and every lineament of its resemblance to God. • 
 But if God, by an act of sovereignty, converted all 
 the children of Adam into a race of such corrupt and 
 degraded beings, and rendered them incapable of 
 any good whatever, till they are regenerated by a 
 similar act of omnipotence, it would seem that God, 
 
206 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 is, by plain consequence, the principal cause of all 
 wickedness, and that man, on grounds of common 
 sense and natural equity, is no more responsible for 
 his sins, than a wild beast is responsible for that 
 instinct of nature, which we sometimes call cruelty 
 or ferocity. 
 
 Calvin indeed goes further ', and strenuously con- 
 
 ' Non dicam cum Augustino, in peccato sive in malo nihil esse 
 positivum, sad aliud mihi principium sumo. Quae perperam et 
 injuste ab hominibus fiunt, eadem recta et justa esse Dei opera. 
 De Sterna Dei Prsed. p. 725. 
 
 Nee vero commentum illud recipio, Deum, quia lege solutus 
 sit, quicquid agat reprehensione vacare. Deum enim exlegem 
 qui facit, maxima eum gloriae suae parte spoliat, quia rectitudinem 
 ejus et justitiam sepelit. Non quod legi subjectus sit Deus, nisi 
 quatenus ipse sibi lex sit — Nondum tamen soluta est objectio : si 
 Dei arbitrio geruntur omnia, nee quicquam homines, nisi eo 
 volente et ordinante, designant, esse igitur malorum omnium 
 authorem. Vera est ilia, quae in Scholis obtinuit, distinctio, 
 malum pcenae, non culpas a Deo proficisci, modo dextre intelli- 
 gatur : sed imperite quidam, quasi verbulo uno rem de qua agitur 
 obruere liceret, hoc ipsum, de quo maxime ambigitur, secure 
 prsetereunt : quomodo extra culpam sit Deus in eodem opere, 
 quod in Satana et reprobis tam damnat ipse, quam damnatum ab 
 hominibus pronuntiat — Quomodo igitur a culpa eximetur Deus, 
 cujus Satan cum suis organis reus erit ? Nempe si inter hominum 
 facta discrimen a consilio et fine sumetur : ut ejus damnetur 
 crudelitas, qui cornicum oculos configit, judicis autem laudetur 
 virtus, qui scelesti hominis caede manus suas sanctificat ; cur 
 deterior erit Dei conditio, ne sua eum justitia ab hominum 
 maleficiis separet ?■ — Ergo cum justa de causa, licet nobis ignota, 
 a Domino procedant, quae scelerate ab hominibus maleficia 
 perpetrantur : etiamsi rerum omnium prima causa sit' ejus 
 voluntas, peccati tamen esse eum Authorem nego. De jEternfi. 
 Dei Praedestinatione, p. 728. 
 
 Melancthon, and the more sober and judicious Protestants, 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 207 
 
 tends that God concurs positively and directly in the 
 sins of mankind, by ordaining their commission, and 
 influencinsr the will to commit them. But he en- 
 deavours to prove that, even on this supposition, 
 God cannot be deemed the cause and author of sin. 
 For he maintains that those actions, which are 
 sinful in man who perforins them, are not sinful in 
 God who ordains and concurs in them, because 
 actions are denominated sinful in respect to their 
 final causes, and God's end in contributing to these 
 actions is his own glory. But surely it must be 
 acknowledged that God is the principal cause of 
 those actions, to which he disposes the will, and in 
 
 whilst they fully believed that God's providence disposes all 
 human events, and over-rules the counsels of the wicked, em- 
 ploying them as his instruments in the execution of his righteous 
 decrees, still maintained that God does not impel man to sin by 
 any ordination or active concurrence, but withdraws his grace 
 from them, and permits them to follow their own counsels. But 
 Calvin arraigns such just and moderate sentiments as barking 
 against God, and nothing better than pride and blasphemy. 
 Ccelestibus oraculis sinistras ignominiag notas inurere non dubi- 
 tant. Coelum sputis impetunt. Adversus banc doctrinam rabido 
 ore latrant. In coelum evomunt blasphemias. Inst. 1. i. 
 c. 18. 
 
 The position that actions are denominated good or bad, right- 
 eous or sinful, with respect to their final causes, is grossly incor- 
 rect, and the examples by which the author has attempted to 
 illustrate it, are pretty plain proofs of its weakness. Actions, 
 inditFerent in their own nature, are rendered good or evil by their 
 final causes — Actions, which are good in themselves, are conta- 
 minated and rendered evil by a bad end — but no end, however 
 good, can sanctify an evil action, or denominate it good, either in 
 the actor or the adviser. 
 
208 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 which he positively concurs. If therefore we justly 
 refer backward to God, as their jDrincipal cause and 
 author, all holy desires, good counsels, and just 
 works, without taking into the account any second- 
 ary or subordinate causes, it will be difficult to prove 
 to the satisfaction of plain minds, that he is not the 
 cause of man's sins, if he positively concurs in sinful 
 actions, in order to promote his own glory by the 
 punishment of the sinner; or if, as this theory of 
 Regeneration implies, he has, by an act of sovereign 
 and almighty power, made men incapable of doing 
 any thing but sin. 
 
 There is another consequence resulting from this 
 theory of Regeneration, inimical to the main pur- 
 poses of religious instruction and discipline. For 
 religious instruction is intended to operate on the 
 inward frame and moral principles of man through 
 the medium of his conscience, by bringing home its 
 admonitions and reproofs, its pictures of human 
 nature, its general views and special descriptions of 
 sin, to the heart and bosom of the individual. But 
 it is impossible that those tragical representations of 
 the depravity of our common nature, which are the 
 props and supports of this theory, can be brought 
 home to the conscience of the sinner. When his 
 evil habits are described and delineated, and the 
 several specialities of his transgressions pointed out 
 to him ; when he is charged with an inherent 
 proneness to sin, and an aversion from holiness and 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 209 
 
 moral discipline, and on these grounds is impleaded 
 as a sinner and a fallen creature ; the appeal is 
 made to his conscience, and he acknowledofes the 
 truth of the indictment. But when he is taught 
 that he is a compound of beast and devil, and a 
 mere mass of depravity and loathsome corruption, 
 that he is utterly devoid of all good principles and 
 affections, and entertains a fierce and bitter hatred 
 of God, and a violent antipathy to the principle of 
 holiness ; and when the necessity of Regeneration 
 is placed upon this footing, his conscience cannot 
 acquiesce in these charges, because they do not 
 contain a true statement of the case. And such 
 exaggerations necessarily tend to weaken the force 
 of Christian doctrine, and the conviction which 
 results from the internal and practical evidences of 
 its truth. 
 
 But this is not the whole extent of the evil. 
 For unfortunately these exaggerated descriptions of 
 human corruption, whilst they fail of acting upon the 
 conscience, have a powerful effect on the passions of 
 the weak and unreflecting, and naturally serve to 
 kindle and encourao:e the maladies of religious en- 
 thusiasm and self-imposture. For when men are 
 tauoht that a sense of their own utter and unmixed 
 depravity is the first, or rather the sole qualification 
 for Regeneration, they endeavour to throw themselves 
 into that posture of mind, which the lesson that 
 they have heard seems to require. Hence they give 
 
 p 
 
•210 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 themselves np to certain vague and desultory feel- 
 ings of unworthiness, which they mistake for re- 
 ligious convictions, and establish within themselves 
 a kind of factitious conscience, which, whilst it over- 
 looks the specialities of sin, taxes them with utter 
 depravity and a determined hatred of God ; and thus 
 calls them off from the task of self-inquiry, and 
 the pursuit of self-knowledge. But the transition 
 from this state of mind to a state directly opposite to 
 it, is easy and natural. For he who can persuade 
 himself that he is exactly such a creature as these 
 views of original sin represent him, will find no diffi- 
 culty in persuading himself, that he has experienced 
 that mystical change and revolution of soul, on which 
 the corresponding theory of Regeneration insists. 
 Such in fact is the history of the most prevalent 
 kinds of enthusiasm ; and it confirms an observation 
 made in a former part of this treatise — that the spe- 
 culative errors of Divines naturally slide into practical 
 errors and fanaticism, when they fall into the hands 
 of the weak, the passionate, and the injudicious. 
 
 One other consequence of this theory is, that it 
 ministers to the pride and vanity of the human 
 heart, by shifting its religious convictions and self- 
 condemnation from a consciousness of personal un- 
 worthiness to feelings or confessions of natural un- 
 worthiness and necessary sinfulness. Where just 
 views of religion are entertained, a sense of natural 
 unworthiness is the result of clear and deep convic- 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 2 1 1 
 
 tions of personal faultiness. But in a system which 
 contemplates every man as utterly depraved by the 
 necessity of his nature, and devoid of every spark 
 and remnant of goodness, the idea of personal un- 
 worthiness will be merged in a vague feeling of 
 natural depravity. It is easy to say, what has been 
 confidently asserted by many Calvinistic divines, 
 that this necessity of sinning is an aggravation of 
 man's personal guilt, and is therefore the strongest 
 ground that can be laid for humility and self-abase- 
 ment. Common sense revolts against this assertion, 
 and experience unequivocally refutes it. With re- 
 spect to pious and sober-minded men, — and many 
 such there are among the speculative advocates of 
 this opinion, — sound sense and the power of religious 
 principles neutralize the effects of an erroneous 
 theory. But, with the exception of a comparatively 
 small and fluctuating body of novices and aspirants, 
 the great number of those who entertain these 
 views of human nature, imagine themselves already 
 regenerated; and the contrast between themselves 
 and the unregenerate part of mankind, gives an 
 irresistible fascination to the opinions which they 
 have adopted. And they are well contented to place 
 their former state in the blackest point of view, in 
 order that they may derive the greater satisfaction 
 from contemplating their regenerate condition. 
 
 Upon the whole, then, I am persuaded, that this 
 theory of Regeneration, resting, as it does, on these 
 
 p2 
 
212 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 exaggerated views of the depravity of our common 
 nature, involves in it consequences highly unfavour- 
 able to the simplicity and genuine character of the 
 Gospel dispensation. 
 
 But in addition to these consequences, and the 
 opposition which the theory presents to the plainest 
 principles of natural and revealed religion, the defi- 
 nition of Regeneration, which it commonly assumes, 
 is inconsistent with those sober and just views of 
 our nature, in its renewed and improved state, which 
 we may collect from Scripture and experience. At 
 all events it is not such a definition as can be pro- 
 pounded with safety to the great body of our 
 Christian brethren. 
 
 A prudent divine, who understands the true force 
 and meaning of words, will be cautious of pro- 
 nouncing that change which is effected in the act of 
 Regeneration, an entire change of heart or mind, or a 
 radical change of all the parts and faculties of the 
 sold. Nay, a prudent divine, though he will allow 
 that these expressions may be applied, in a qualified 
 and comparative sense, to highly improved Christ- 
 ians, will rather choose to abstain from the use of 
 them. Well advised and humble men will not 
 readily appropriate such terms to themselves, be- 
 cause, though they cannot be too thankful for the 
 change which they have undergone, they are aware 
 that it is far from being entire either in parts or 
 degrees. And we are too well acquainted with the 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 2 1 3 
 
 mischievous effects of such language on weak and 
 passionate minds, and know by experience how well 
 calculated it is to inflame the vanity of the human 
 heart, and to give birth to every species of enthu- 
 siasm, and every degree of self-sufficiency. 
 
214 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CONCLUSION CONTAINING SOME REMARKS ON THE 
 
 HARMONY OF THE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION 
 IN BAPTISM WITH THE DRIFT AND PRINCIPLES 
 AND MORAL EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION. 
 
 I HAVE now pursued my researches into the grounds 
 and theory of the doctrine of Regeneration through 
 the several heads of inquiry, which I proposed in 
 the outset of this treatise. After premising some 
 remarks on the obvious advantao^es of adherino" as 
 much as possible to the strict and determinate usage 
 of words, in the different branches of human know- 
 ledge, and particularly in theological inquiries and 
 controversies, I proceeded to lay before my readers 
 a statement of the opinions of the ancient Christians 
 on this subject of Regeneration, and of the principles 
 on which their usage of the word seems to depend. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 2 1 5 
 
 After this I investigated the Scriptural authorities 
 for this doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism, and 
 examined the principal exceptions which have been 
 taken to it from other passages of holy writ. I then 
 pointed out the strict conformity between the an- 
 cient Christians and our own Church on this point 
 of doctrine, and noticed the attempts which have 
 been made to extract a different opinion from our 
 public writings. Afterwards I inquired more at 
 large into the theory of this doctrine, the several 
 variations which have been made from the language 
 and opinions of the Church, and the theory which 
 has been opposed to it with the greatest confidence : 
 and I have pointed out some difficulties with which 
 this latter theory is encumbered, and some conse- 
 quences which obviously flow from it. 
 
 In the conduct of this inquiry it has been my 
 object to show, 
 
 1. That in Scripture Baptism is considered as the 
 commencement of a new period, as an epoch of the 
 religious life, fi-om whence the Christian dates a new 
 state of sj)iritual existence, carrying with it new 
 privileges, capacities of action, and expectations ; or, 
 in other words, a state of salvation. 
 
 2. That the Sacrament of Baptism is not only the 
 symbol and seal, but the channel and organ of that 
 inward grace, of which it is, in a strict and sacra- 
 mental sense, the outward and visible sign. 
 
 3. That the grace conferred in Baptism, and 
 
216 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 expressed in Scripture by a variety of phrases and 
 figures of speech, is not, strictly speaking, a practical 
 change, but a change of state and relative condition, 
 accompanied with an earnest and promise of such 
 spiritual power, as may enable the recipient to con- 
 tinue in this state of salvation, and to carry on *:hat 
 moral and practical change, which this mystical 
 change implies and requires. 
 
 4. That the change Avhich has been stated and 
 described in the course of this treatise, was, in strict 
 accordance with the language of Scripture, usually 
 denominated Regeneration by the Avhole body of the 
 ancient Christians. 
 
 5. That in this head of doctrine our Church has 
 kept close to the language and sentiments of 
 Christian antiquity, distinguishing the sacramental 
 grace from the qualifications which it requires, and 
 the effects which it is intended to produce ; and 
 using the word Regeneration, in its Articles and 
 Liturgy, to signify solely and singly the grace con- 
 ferred on Christians in baptism. 
 
 6. That the Scriptures uniformly contemplate the 
 moral and practical change of the human soul as 
 effected through the medium of moral instruments ; 
 and never suppose that spiritual habits are formed 
 in another manner, or follow another order, than 
 such habits as are purely and exclusively moral. 
 
 7. That, consequently, the theory which contem- 
 plates Regeneration as an infusion or implantation 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 217 
 
 of habits, or as a turning point from evil to good, 
 attended with an entire change of mind, or a radical 
 change of the parts and faculties of the soul, is not 
 only inconsistent with the reasonable and moral 
 constitution of man, but at variance with the nature 
 and purposes of revealed religion. And that it is 
 built on metaphysical positions which will not bear 
 the test of examination, and on such exaggerated 
 views of man's sinfulness and degraded condition, as 
 have no foundation in experience or Scrij^ture, and 
 involve consequences injurious to the cause of truth, 
 and the interests of pure and unadulterated Christ- 
 ianity. 
 
 Nothing now remains but to add, by way of con- 
 clusion, a few remarks on the harmony of the doc- 
 trine of Regeneration in Baptism with the drift 
 and principles of revealed religion, and its consis- 
 tency with the internal evidences and moral ten- 
 dencies of the Christian dispensation. 
 
 The Christian revelation, considered apart from 
 the principles of natural religion, which it supposes 
 and adopts, is a remedial dispensation, framed for 
 the benefit of creatures in a fallen and diseased 
 state : and is intended to counteract such evils as 
 could not be subdued by the ordinary means, or did 
 not fall within the scope of reason and natural 
 religion. Previous to the preaching of the Gospel, 
 and the more extensive dissemination of the know- 
 ledge contained in the Holy Scriptures, man's igno- 
 
218 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 ranee of God's nature, and his own duty, of his 
 origin and business in this world, of the ends of his 
 creation, and of his future prospects, showed the 
 great need of a particular revelation, accompanied 
 with sufficient evidence, and calculated for general 
 instruction. For it could not be expected that 
 reason and natural religion, which had not prevented 
 him from falling into this state, would prove suffi- 
 cient remedies for his ignorance, or relieve him 
 from his difficulties and distresses. It is true that 
 the human understanding was never so totally and 
 universally darkened, as not to perceive at times the 
 reasonableness and excellence of many of the first 
 truths of morality and religion. Still however the 
 uncertainty under which the wisest of the heathens 
 laboured in their views and notions of these sub- 
 jects, is a convincing argument of the necessity of a 
 more expHcit communication of religious knowledge ; 
 and is a strong internal proof of the truth of that 
 revelation, which has brought this knowledge within 
 the comprehension, and rendered it familiar to the 
 minds, of the uneducated and illiterate. 
 
 The advantage, therefore, and necessity of an 
 explicit revelation of the main truths and principles 
 of religion, are clearly made out from the history of 
 mankind, and from that ignorance of the truth which 
 was universally prevalent, and was acknowledged and 
 lamented by the wisest and most thinking of the hea- 
 thens. But if this revelation had been nothing more 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 219 
 
 than a republication, or a clearer and more exact de- 
 velopment of the truths of natural religion, it would 
 not have corresponded with man's wants, nor satisfied 
 his feelings and conscience. For the more clearly 
 the principles of natural religion are explained, and 
 the consequences of violating its obligations set 
 forth, the more forcibly will man feel the imperfec- 
 tions of his own performances, the guilt which he 
 has contracted, and the punishment to which he has 
 exposed himself. Man, contemplating himself as 
 a religious and responsible creature, discovers that 
 he is a sinner, and that the principles of natural 
 religion, and the authority of conscience, are insuffi- 
 cient to stimulate him to duty, and to curb his 
 evil affections and propensities. Arguing then from 
 his own experience, and the general appearances of 
 the moral world, he will probably conclude, inde- 
 pendently of positive revelation, that this bias to sin 
 is inherent in his nature, and will from thence 
 justly infer, that he cannot be an object of his 
 Maker's favour, whilst he continues in this state of 
 guilt and corruption. But here natural religion can 
 do nothing for him, or at least offers him no suffi- 
 cient means of quieting his fears, or healing his 
 inherent maladies. He may perhaps build some 
 hopes or presumptions of forgiveness on the sup- 
 posed efficacy of repentance, or on his natural 
 notions and revealed knowledge of God's benevo- 
 lence. But these presumptions are insufficient to 
 
220 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 quiet liis apprehensions, because they do not furnish 
 him with such a remedy against the effects and do- 
 minion of sin, as can satisfy his understanding, and 
 compose his conscience. Hence arises the necessity, 
 or at least the expediency and manifest advantage, 
 of a revelation of a remedial nature, and of a promise 
 of forgiveness, established on sufficient grounds and 
 satisfactory evidence. But at the same time man 
 must be sensible that the forgiveness of his sins, and 
 his restoration to God's favour, cannot supersede the 
 principles of natural religion, and his obligations to 
 obey the will of God. He will therefore look to reve- 
 lation for assurances of some new and supernatural 
 powers, to enable him to resist and counteract his in- 
 herent bias to evil and tendency to decay, and to give 
 spring and elasticity to his moral and religious en- 
 deavours. But it is a strong internal evidence of 
 the truth of the Gospel dispensation, that it pro- 
 fesses to supply mankind with such a remedy for 
 sin, and such spiritual assistances, as the acknow- 
 ledged and experimental evils of their situation 
 seem to demand. 
 
 But the doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism 
 tallies and harmonizes with this scheme of revealed 
 religion. Assuming the inspiration of the Scrip- 
 tures, and the truth of every article of natural and 
 revealed religion contained in them — particularly 
 the divinity and incarnation of our Saviour, the 
 atonement and satisfaction which have been made 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 221 
 
 to Almighty God for the sins of the whole world by 
 his death upon the cross, and the infallible cer- 
 tainty of that promise of the Holy Ghost, which he 
 has made to his whole Church, and to every faithful 
 member of it — it enforces the authority of God's 
 word, and brings home the truths of revealed reli- 
 gion to every man's bosom, by assuring us that God 
 consigns over to the individual Christian his share 
 in the saving effects of his Redeemer's sufferings, 
 and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, in a form and 
 order of his own appointment. But this doctrine 
 contents itself with the simplicity of the scriptural 
 statement. It does not pave the way for its own 
 reception by such exaggerated descriptions of man's 
 natural and necessary depravity, as are inconsistent 
 with his history and experience, and therefore 
 cannot be brought home to the real conscience of 
 the sinner. Nor does it indulge in any such 
 exaggerated accounts of the act of Regeneration 
 itself, and its immediate and necessary effects, as 
 can fascinate the understandings, and minister to 
 the vanity of the weak and injudicious. The sum 
 of what it teaches us is, that the forgiveness of sins, 
 purchased for us by the death of the Son of God, 
 the gift or earnest of the Holy Ghost, which he has 
 promised to us, and a conditional title to eternal 
 life, issuing from his merits, and from the free 
 grace of God, are made over in Baptism to infants 
 and adults duly qualified, without any distinction or 
 
222 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 respect of persons; and that Baptism is, according 
 to the plain lesson of Scripture, the ordinary instru- 
 ment of Regeneration. 
 
 In this theory, therefore, those remedies for sin 
 and sinfulness, which the Gospel of Christ proifers 
 to mankind, are contemplated as made over to us 
 individually, through the medium of an outward 
 sign, and certified to our faith in a simple and 
 affecting ceremony, and in a way excellently calcu- 
 lated to enhance the mercy and free grace of God, 
 and to minister to our comfort and improvement. 
 It does not presume to inform us in what way, or to 
 what extent the Holy Spirit acts upon the soul in 
 Baptism, nor how he stamps and seals us as God's 
 property : but it looks upon our Regeneration as an 
 entrance into a state of Christian life, which is a 
 life of trial and education ; and therefore considers 
 that change of disposition and habits, and that 
 complete renewal of the soul which some Di- 
 vines speak of as the very essence of the new 
 birth, as its legitimate and intended, but not as its 
 necessary consequence. Man is brought into a 
 state of salvation and a covenant of repentance in 
 baptism, but his final salvation depends on the issue 
 of a state of trial. But if the satisfaction of Christ 
 appears to salve the honour of God's laws, and 
 composes and relieves the sinner's conscience, and if 
 the promise of the Holy Ghost is a comfort and en- 
 couragement to weak and sinful creatures, we may 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 2"23 
 
 reasonably believe (and we are firmly persuaded that 
 Scripture affords amj^le grounds for this article of 
 belief) that our interest in these blessings is made 
 over to us at some definite point of time, and 
 through the medium of a sensible action, to which 
 we can refer back with an assurance of faith, without 
 being left in a state of doubt and suspense, or 
 being tempted to have recourse to fallible and uncer- 
 tain criterions. 
 
 It is true that many strange and lamentable con- 
 sequences have been supposed to flow from this 
 doctrine by writers, who appear to think that the 
 essence and spirituality of religion are intimately 
 connected with their own views of Regeneration ; 
 and have in consequence been more studious to 
 maintain their own principles than to acquaint them- 
 selves with the merits of the opposite theory. But 
 these consequences do not flow from the opinions 
 and statements of the advocates of this doctrine, but 
 from opinions, which exist no where (so far at least 
 as any parties to this controversy are concerned) but 
 in the warm imaginations and jealous fears of its op- 
 ponents. That no man, who has not been baptized, 
 can possibly enter into the kingdom of heaven ; that 
 hypocrites and profligate men are delivered from 
 their sins, and endowed with the Holy Ghost in 
 baptism, no less than true penitents and sincere be- 
 lievers ; and that the baptismal action is always 
 accompanied with a radical change of all the parts 
 
224 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 and faculties of the soul, are indeed fearful proposi- 
 tions, and pregnant with absurd and mischievous 
 consequences. But since they are propositions 
 which no one has advanced, and represent opinions 
 which no one entertains, they may be safely left to 
 their own fate. 
 
 In fact, the question at issue has been completely 
 shifted, and placed upon a new bottom, by the 
 advocates of the theory of Regeneration which 
 has been canvassed. The real question is, whether, 
 according to the doctrine of Scripture, the primitive 
 and constant tradition of the ancient Churches, and 
 the decided sense of the Church of England, Rege- 
 neration is the inward and spiritual grace of Bap- 
 tism. The question argued by the other party has 
 been — whether a change of heart, an implantation 
 of grace, an entire change of mind, or a radical 
 change of all the parts and faculties of the soul, 
 always take jDlace in this sacrament. But this 
 mode of stating and arguing the question can be 
 productive of no good effects, nor lead to any just 
 conclusions, for it either assumes the very point on 
 which the controversy hinges, or has recourse to the 
 most paltry of all sophisms, a mere verbal equivo- 
 cation. 
 
 Had indeed those descriptions and definitions of 
 Regeneration, which I have had such frequent occa- 
 sion to cite, occurred in writings of an oratorical 
 cast, or in pathetic appeals to the feelings of the 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 225 
 
 reader, though I could not have approved the Au- 
 thor's judgment, every just allowance would have 
 been made for rhetorical exao:o'eration. But when 
 they occur in treatises, or argumentative and con- 
 troversial discourses, which profess to handle the 
 theory and doctrinal parts of religion, and to treat 
 the subjects under review systematically ; especially 
 when the authors substitute their own definitions 
 for the words used by their opponents ; they can 
 have no claim to indulgence on this score : and 
 probably the writers themselves would be the first 
 to disclaim any interpretations, which would palliate 
 their expressions, or soften down and extenuate their 
 opinions. 
 
 Several reasons have induced me to pursue my 
 inquiries, and arrange and publish my sentiments 
 on this subject. Many excellent and orthodox 
 statements of this doctrine have been given to the 
 world, and it has been touched upon, professedly 
 or incidentally, by several of our most eminent 
 divines. But I know of no book which contains a 
 general and systematic view of its bearings and 
 authorities, of the objections which have been made, 
 and the theories which have been opposed to it. 
 1 could not but apprehend that much danger must 
 accrue to the evidences of religion, from setting up 
 novel opinions and private interpretations of Scrip- 
 ture in opposition to the received doctrine and 
 unanimous testimony of the whole Church of Christ, 
 
226 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 from the days of the Apostles to the time of the 
 Reformation. I perceived the evil consequences 
 which would result both to the Ministers of our 
 Church, and to their congregations, from the at- 
 tempts which have been made to explain away the 
 clear and unequivocal language of our baptismal 
 offices. And I saw with regret, that the theory, 
 which is principally opposed to this doctrine, sub- 
 stitutes a scheme of necessity for the probationary 
 system of scriptural religion, removes the appeal 
 which the Gospel makes to mankind from the 
 conscience to the passions, fascinates the human 
 understanding, and flatters the vanity of the human 
 heart, and naturally slides into such a shape as 
 generates enthusiastic notions, and leads the way to 
 a habit of gross self-delusion. 
 
 But I have insisted the more largely on this sub- 
 ject, because it is closely combined with just and 
 scriptural views of the great importance and spiri- 
 tual effects of Baptism, which almost every other 
 statement of the doctrine of Regeneration either 
 invalidates or annihilates : and because it is of much 
 moment to a right conception of the general scheme 
 and nature of the Christian covenant. For accord- 
 ing to the terms of this covenant, He that believeth 
 and is baptized shall be saved \ and he that is bap- 
 tized, must observe all things whatsoever' Christ 
 
 ' Mark xvi. 10. 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAFTISM. 2'27 
 
 commanded his disciples K The Gospel covenant, 
 therefore, is a covenant of grace on God's part, and 
 of belief and obedience on the part of man ; and, 
 consequently, it contemplates the Christian life as 
 a real and unsophisticated state of probation, in 
 which free grace and free obedience, justification 
 in God's sight, and repentance and holiness of life, 
 are correlatives, and imply each other ; and man, 
 who has been redeemed, and pardoned, and en- 
 dowed with the Holy Gbost, has duties to perform, 
 and conditions to fulfil, must continue stedfast in 
 the faith, and must endeavour to ivalk i?i all the 
 command?nents of the Lord blameless ^, and to have 
 a conscience void of offence toward God and toward 
 man ^. 
 
 But the doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism 
 fixes the commencement of the Christian life in 
 the right place, and secures the doctrine of uni- 
 versal grace within the pale of the Church, and 
 the comprehension of the covenant, against every 
 system which savours of necessity or favouritism, of 
 absolute decrees, or capricious preferences. With- 
 out pretending to account for the gradual deve- 
 lopment of the truth, and the partial propagation of 
 the Gospel, or for remarkable instances of God's 
 special grace, which must be resolved into his 
 unsearchable purposes, it teaches us, that such 
 
 ' Matt, xxviii. 20. ' Luke i. 6, ' Acts xxiv. 16. 
 
 q2 
 
228 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 baptized adults as are believers and penitents, and 
 baptized infants, who can present no bar of unbelief 
 and impenitence, receive in this sacrament the for- 
 giveness of sins, and the gift or earnest of the Ploly 
 Ghost, as a principle of new and spiritual life ; and 
 are placed in a state of salvation, of which nothing 
 but human negligence and default can deprive 
 them. Still, however, it teaches us that this state 
 is not only a state of grace, but a state of discipline 
 and trial ; and that the child of God and inheritor 
 of the kingdom of heaven, if he is wanting to his 
 o^vn soul, or is neglected and undone by the guar- 
 dians of his early days, will become the child of the 
 devil, and the inheritor of everlastino- miserv. 
 
 We may collect, indeed, from the passages of 
 St. John's first Epistle, which have been referred 
 to in a former part of this treatise, that this doc- 
 trine was soon perverted to bad purposes, and the 
 history of the Church will furnish us with other 
 instances of its misapplication and perversion. And 
 it may be asked, what doctrine has not in its turn 
 been corrupted and abused ? But I am confident 
 that no man who really understands this doctrine, 
 and is not prejudiced against it either by a strange 
 misapprehension of its drift and nature, or by an 
 attachment to some favourite hypothesis, can dis- 
 cover in it any dangerous or immoral tendency, 
 or any aptness to produce formality, security, pre- 
 sumption, or self-conceit. With us at least, in 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. 229 
 
 our public formularies, it is guarded against every 
 misconstruction, and intimately connected with the 
 probationary life, and the necessity of religious 
 exertion and growing holiness. Such too is the 
 use to which it is applied by the ministers of our 
 Church in public and private, in the school, the 
 pulpit, and all their pastoral instructions. A variety 
 of practical lessons are built upon it in their ad- 
 dresses to parents and children, to the young, the 
 old, the sinner, the penitent, and the confirmed 
 Christian ; and it is pressed on the memories and 
 consciences of their hearers, as a motive to vigi- 
 lance, self-jealousy, resistance to temptation, re- 
 pentance, exertion, and perseverance. They firmly 
 believe and thankfully acknowledge that the chil- 
 dren whom they have baptized have be'en grafted 
 into Christ's body, and constituted and declared 
 children of God ; and their labours are directed to 
 these points — that they may be reared and educated 
 as spiritual and immortal creatures : that the chil- 
 dren of God may not become children of wrath and 
 children of the devil ; and that those Christians who 
 have fallen away from God's grace, and forfeited the 
 hopes and privileges of their calling, may be renewed 
 again to repentance, and restored to the household 
 and family of Christ. 
 
 Whilst the Christian minister makes this use 
 and practical application of it, he need not fear to 
 advocate a doctrine grounded on the sure basis 
 
230 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 of Scripture, witnessed by all antiquity, and un- 
 equivocally asserted by our own Church. Security, 
 presumption, self-conceit, and the other vices which 
 have been strangely characterized as its natural 
 consequences, he must expect to find in abun- 
 dance. They are owing to the want of that re- 
 ligious education which forms an important part 
 of our Christian trial, where the interests of the 
 young are intrusted, according to the known ana- 
 logy of God's natural and moral government, to 
 the care of other persons ; and their spiritual wel- 
 fare, without the continual interference of mira- 
 culous causes, must necessarily be involved in the 
 good conduct and fidelity of their parents and 
 instructors. They are occasioned by evil habits 
 and bad examples, by the cares of this world and 
 the lusts of the flesh, by inattention to the con- 
 cerns of religion, and by an imperfect acquaint- 
 ance with the nature of Christianity, and of the 
 privileges and obligations of the baptismal cove- 
 nant ; and, not unfrequently, by those fanatical 
 notions of Regeneration, which are no uncommon 
 fruits of a departure from orthodox opinion. But 
 I am persuaded that he will seldom, I may almost 
 say, will never, within the sphere of his own duties, 
 find them grounded on any misconstruction of this 
 important doctrine. 
 
 The minister of the Church, therefore, who has 
 no wish to sacrifice the simple and plain meaning 
 
 8 
 
DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM. '231 
 
 of its public offices to refined speculations and subtle 
 evasions, whilst he yields hearty thanks to God in 
 the prayers of the Church, " that it hath pleased him 
 to regenerate" the cliild that has been baptized 
 " with his Holy Spirit," and " humbly beseeches him 
 to grant that he may thenceforth crucify the old 
 man, and in the end utterly abolish the whole body 
 of sin," will speak the same language, and inculcate 
 the same doctrine in his discourses. He will follow 
 up in his ministerial labours the tenour of those 
 sound and pious exhortations, with which he has dis- 
 missed the sponsors and guardians of the infant, and 
 will look forward with a mixture of hope and fear to 
 his future renovation and improvement : — " Remem- 
 bering always that Baptism doth represent unto us 
 our profession, which is to follow the example of 
 Christ, and to be made like unto him ; that as he 
 died and rose again for us, so should we, who are 
 baptized, die from sin, and rise again unto righteous- 
 ness, continually mortifying our evil and corrupt 
 affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and 
 godliness of living '." 
 
 ^ Office for public baptism (concluding exhortation). 
 
 THE END. 
 
LONDON : 
 GILBERT & UIVINGTON, I'RINXEUS, 
 
 ST. John's square. 
 
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