BAPTISM. 



247 



Baptism, pugnant to the feelings of nature, to the dictates of 

 v v ' reason, and to the moral attributes of God, that it 

 never universally prevailed. When, therefore, the 

 administration of baptism was impossible, men were 

 allowed to entertain some faint hopes of future hap- 

 piness. In some cases, likewise, the want of baptism 

 was compensated by the performance of other duties. 

 Such were martyrdom, called the baptism of blood ; 

 repentance, called the baptism of fire ; and constant 

 communicating, when a person had been admitted to 

 the Lord's supper on a supposition of his having been 

 baptized. But as these substitutes were thought 

 dangerous, recourse was had, in doubtful cases, to 

 hypothetical baptism, in this form: If thou art bap- 

 tized, I do not re-baptize thee ; but if thou art not 

 baptized, I baptize thee in the name, &c. Baptism 

 of the dead was another expedient practised by the 

 African church : to which may be added, baptism 

 for the dead, performed in this manner : When a 

 catechumen died, the priest advanced to the bed and 

 asked him if he desired baptism: upon this, a man, 

 who had been concealed under the bed, answered, 

 that he would be baptized in his stead ; which was 

 accordingly done. But as no. expedients could be 

 devised for washing away the original sin of infants, 

 their case was thought almost hopeless. It might 

 have been expected, that the mild and generous de- 

 claration of our Saviour, Matth. xviii. 14. would have 

 led them to a very different conclusion ; yet Gre- 

 gory Nazianzen, and Severus, bishop of Antioch, 

 who entertained the most favourable hopes of them, 

 assigned them only a middle state. Pelagius, how- 

 ever, and his numerous followers, by denying ori- 

 ginal sin, declared them capable of salvation. The 

 church of Rome assert that baptism always confers 

 grace, and justification ; but the Arminians and So- 

 cinians allow it only to be a sign of grace. The 

 church of England do not positively maintain the 

 necessity of baptism to salvation ; though the 27th of 

 their articles seems to imply it. The church of Scot- 

 land call it a seal of the covenant of grace, of rege- 

 neration, &c. but do not think it absolutely neces- 

 sary to salvation. Some have thought that it be- 

 stows immortality upon the soul : of this number was 

 Dodwell, who also maintained, that only episcopal 

 baptism could bestow this blessing. 



The dispute, which has long agitated the church, 

 concerning the proper subjects of baptism, is, unhap- 

 Jnfant pily, not yet terminated. Whilst some contend that 



baptism. the infant children of Christian parents have a right 

 to baptism, others maintain that this right belongs 

 only to those who have been instructed in the reli- 

 gion of Jesus, and profess their belief in his name. 

 But though, at the first propagation of Christianity, 

 all who were admitted to baptibm must have been of 

 the latter description, yet whin the foundations of 

 the church were laid, the children of believers were, 

 no doubt, admitted before they were capable of per- 

 sonal belief. As Tertullian, about the end of the 

 second century, condemns infant baptism, it has been 

 asserted, that that practice must have then prevailed 

 in the Carthaginian church. But as the children, 

 mentioned by Tertullian, are said to ask baptism for 

 themselves, it ii probable that they were nut infants 

 in the strict sense of the word. It is an undoubted 



3 



fact, however, that about 50 years after, in the time Baptism, 

 of Cyprian, children as soon as born were allowed to v -" v ' 

 be baptized by the council of Carthage. But what 

 is still more to the point, the scriptures inform us, 

 that children were introduced into the church of 

 God by circumcision, from the time of Abraham till 

 the advent of Christ ; and as baptism came in the 

 room of circumcision, children ought still to be in- 

 troduced in the same manner as before. That bap- 

 tism came in the room of circumcision, will appear 

 from the reasoning of Paul. It is admitted that our 

 Lord's supper was instituted instead of the passover, 

 because that apostle says, That Christ our passovey is 

 sacrificed for us, and therefore we ought to keep the 

 feast. But when the same apostle says, That we are 

 circumcised with the circumcision made without 

 hands, buried with Christ in baptism ; we have the 

 same reason to conclude that baptism was instituted 

 instead of circumcision. It ought to be remarked, 

 however, that it was instituted, not instead of that cir- 

 cumcision which was appointed at mount Sinai, and 

 which composed part of the law of ceremonies be- 

 longing to the covenant of works made there ; but in- 

 stead of that circumcision which was instituted 430 

 years before, Gal. iii. 17. when God commanded A- 

 braham to leave his country, and which, as Paul ex- 

 pressly declares, belonged to the covenant of redemp- 

 tion. This circumcision, therefore, and the baptism 

 of Christ, were initiatory rites of the same covenant 

 at different periods. But the change in the initiatory 

 rite made no change in the subjects of the covenant... 

 This, then, accounts for the silence of scripture re- 

 specting infant baptism. Children were introduced 

 into the church of God in the days of Abraham, at 

 the coming of Christ, and at the present day. When 

 things are to remain unaltered, a command-for them 

 to do so, would not only be superfluous, it would be 

 foolish. But when a change is to take place, a com- 

 mand, or, at least, a precedent to authorise it, is ab- 

 solutely necessary. Since, therefore, neither com- 

 mand nor precedent to this purpose is found in scrip- 

 ture, children ought not to be excluded from that 

 covenant into which they undoubtedly were once ad- 

 mitted. 



Before we leave this branch of the subject, we may 

 remark, that as certain employments were thought, 

 in ancient times, not only dishonourable, but unlaw- 

 ful, such persons as professed them were excluded 

 ' from baptism. Of this description were magicians, 

 image-makers, gladiators, stage players, public dri- 

 vers, and even strolling beggars. We are sorry to 

 add, that the generous maxim of our Saviour, " What- 

 soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 

 even so to them," seems not to have been remember- 

 ed by his followers, when they decreed, That the 

 slaves of Christians should not be baptized without 

 the approbation of their masters ; but that the slaves 

 of heathens, Jews, and heretics, should not only be 

 baptized without the consent of their masters, but 

 should, by baptism, obtain their freedom. 



It has been said, that soon after the apostolic age, Sects that 

 many Christian sects rejected baptism. But the ac- reject 

 counts of these sects are so obscure and contradicto- baptism, 

 ry, that no reliance can be placed upon them. It is 

 probable this error was not so common as has been 



