and conditions of the covenant; of its being a rule of moral government over man in a state of unregeneracy, brought hereby into a state of probation; which turns the covenant into a law, and is what the Neonomians call a remedial law, (as this writer calls the covenant a remedial one) a law of milder terms; nor of his Arminian ftrokes in making the endeavours and acts of men to be the turning point of their falvation, and conversion, as being foreign to the controversy in hand.

3. This writer makes a diftinction between a man's being in covenant in refpect of the spiritual difpenfation of the grace of it, and in refpect of the external administration of it: by the fpiritual difpenfation of it, I apprehend, he means the application of fpiritual bleffings in the covenant to persons regenerated and converted, by which they must appear to be in it; and in this fenfe, all the perfons, I have inftanced in, must be manifeftly in the covenant of grace, previous to baptifm: and confequently not brought into it by it. By the external adminiftration of it, I fuppofe, he means the adminiftration of the ordinances of the gospel, particularly baptifm; and then it is only faying a man is not baptized before he is baptized; which no body will contest with him.

4. No man, I obferve, is entered into the covenant of grace by himself, or others; this is an act of the fovereign grace of God, who says, I will be their God, and they fhall be my people; which this writer owns, though not exclusive of human endeavours; as if God could not take any into his covenant without their own endeavours; fuch wretched divinity deferves the utmoft contempt. Since the above phrafe, I will be their God, &c. is a proof of the fovereign grace of God in bringing men into covenant; he hopes it will be allowed that a like phrate, I will be the God of thy feed, will be admitted as strongly to conclude the reception of the Infant-children of believers into covenant. I answer, whenever it appears that there is fuch an article in the covenant of grace, that fo runs, that God will be the God of the natural Seed of believers as fuch, it will be admitted; and whereas I have obferved, that the phrase of bringing into the bond of the covenant, which the Pædobaptifts often make use of, is but once mentioned in fcripture, and then afcribed to God; this, as it no ways contradicts a being in covenant from everlasting, fo it fails not of being a proof of the fovereign grace of God in that act. By the bond of the covenant, is not meant faith and repentance on man's part; which fome ftupidly call the terms and conditions of the covenant, when they are parts and bleffings of it; but the everlafting love of God, which is the fource and fecurity of it, and which lays men under obligation to ferve their covenant-God; and to be brought into it, is to be brought into a comfortable view of intereft in it, and to an open participation

of

of the bleffings of it; which is all according to, and confiftent with the eternal conftitution of it.

66

5. The covenant of grace can never be vacated, fince it is everlasting, ordered in all things and fure: this is owned by our author in refpect of its divine conftitution, and of the immutability of the divine promife, to all under the spiritual difpenfation of it; but there are others who are only in it by a visible and baptismal dedication; and these may make void the covenant between God and them; and this it seems is the cafe of the greatest part of infants in covenant. Now let me retort this Gentleman's argument upon himself, which he makes use of against the covenant being from everlafting. "Thofe, whom God ad"mits into the covenant of grace, have an interest in the benefits of that covenant, pardon of fin, the gift of the Spirit, reconciliation, adoption, &c. for "it is a fort of contradiction to say, that any man is admitted into the covenant, " and yet debarred from an intereft in all the privileges of it." Now, either infants are admitted into the covenant of grace, or they are not; if they are, then they have an intereft in the benefits of it, pardon of fin, and the other bleffings, and so shall all certainly be faved with an everlasting falvation, and not apoftatize, as it feems the greatest part of them do; for to say they are in the external, but not in the fpiritual part of the covenant, is to make a poor business of their covenant-interest indeed. The inftance of Simon Magus, which he thinks I have forgot, will not make for him, nor against me; it is a clear proof, that a man is not brought into covenant by baptifm; fince though baptifm was administered to this perfon in the pure, primitive way, by an apoftolic man, yet he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity.

3dly, The other three confequences following upon the renouncing of Infantbaptism, as renouncing all other ordinances, the promise of Chrift's prefence not made good, and no baptism now in the world, are in fome fort given up, and are allowed not to be clear, at least not alike clear; and are only adverted' to in a general way, and fome expreffions of mine catched at, and remarked upon, and these mistaken or perverted.

1. I observe, this author repeats his former mistake, that we make age effential to baptifm, which is but circumftantial; and then ufes an argument from the leffer to the greater, as he thinks, that if a defect in fuch a circumstance nullifies the ordinance, then much more the want of proper adminiftrators: but it is not age that we object to, but a want of understanding, and faith, and an incapacity to make a profeffion of it, as well as the mode of administration; things of greater importance in this ordinance; at least they are fo with us. However, it is kind in this Gentleman to direct us how we may avoid this inconvenience his argument has thrown us into, by exercifing a little more

moderation

moderation and charity for Infant-baptifm; and upon this foot he seems to be willing to compound the matter with us.

2. As to the presence of Chrift with his church and minifters, it is fufficient to make that good, that he grants it where his Church is, and wherefoever he has a people, be they more, or fewer, and wherefover his ordinances are administered according to his direction; but he has no where promised, that he will have a continued fucceffion of vifible congregated churches. Certain indeed it is, that he will have a number of chosen ones in all ages; that his invisible church, built on Chrift the rock, fhall not fail; and he will have a feed to ferve him, or fome particular perfons, whom he will referve to himself from a general corruption; but that these fhall be gathered always into a visible gofpel church-state, is no where promised; and for many hundreds of years it will be hard to find any one fuch church, unless the people in the valleys of Piedmont are allowed to be fuch,

3. This writer is not willing to admit fuch a fuppofition, that any of the laws and inftitutions of Chrift have failed, ceased, or been annulled in any one age, and much more for several ages together; but, befides the ordinance of baptism, which through the change of mode and fubjects, together with the impure mixtures of falt, oil, and spittle, and other fuperftitious rites, which became quite another thing than what was inftituted by Chrift, and practised by his apostles; the ordinance of the Lord's-fupper was fo fadly perverted and corrupted, as to be a mere mafs indeed of blasphemy and idolatry; in the communion of which the gracious prefence of Chrift cannot be thought to be enjoyed and yet this continued fome hundreds of years; only now and then fome fingle perfons rose up, and bore a teftimony against it, who for a while had their followers.

4. He feems to triumph from Dr Wall's account of things, that there never was, nor is, to this day, any national church in the world but Pædobaptists, either among the Greeks, or Roman Catholics, or the Reformed; and that Antipædobaptifm never obtained to be the established religion of any country. in the world. We do not envy his boaft; we know that national churches are good for nothing, as not being agreeable to the rule of the divine word; one small church or congregation, gathered out of the world by the grace of God, according to gofpel-order, and whofe principles and practices are agreeable to the word of God, is to be preferred before all the national churches in the world.

5. According to this Gentleman's own account of the English Antipædobaptifts, there could be none to adminifter the ordinance to them in their way; fince thofe that came from Holland, it feems, gained no profelytes, but were

foon

BAPTISM. foon extinct, being cruelly perfecuted and deftroyed; fo that it was neceffary they should send abroad for an administrator, or make use of an unbaptized one but which way foever they took, they are able to justify their baptifm on as good a foundation as the Reformers are able to justify theirs received from the Papifts, with all the fooleries, corruptions, and fuperftitious rites attending it.

My third chapter, you will remember, Sir, is concerning The Antiquity of Infant-baptifm, and the practice of the Waldenfes.

I. The enquiry is, whether Infant-baptifm conftantly and univerfally obtained in the truly primitive church, which truly pure and primitive church mult be the church in the times of Chrift and his apoftles; fince towards the close of thofe times, and in the two following Ages, there arose such a set of impure men, both for principle and practice, under the christian name, as never were known in the world now by an induction of particular inftances of churches in this period of time, it does not appear, that Infant-baptifm at all obtained. In Mr Clark's reply to which, I obferve, 1. That he says, the evidence of Infant-baptifm is not pretended to lie in the history of fact, or in any express mention of it in the New Teftament. That the penman of the Alts of the Apoftles did not descend to fo minute a particular, as the baptizing of infants, and that the baptifm of the adult was of the greatest account to be recorded. 2. Yet he thinks there are pretty plain intimations of it in moft of the characters inftanced in, and particularly in the church at Jerufalem; which he endeavours to make good by a criticism on As ii. 41. And it is pleasant to obferve, how he toils and labours to find out an antecedent to a relative not expreffed in the text; for the words, to them, are not in the original; it is only and the fame day there were added about three thousand fouls; or, the fame day there was an addition of about three thousand fouls; and all this pains is taken to fupport a whimsical notion, that this addition was made, not to the church, but to the new converts; and by a wild fancy he imagines, that infants are included among the three thousand souls that were added: his argument from ver. 39. and the other instances mentioned, as well as fome other paffages alledged, fuch as Luke xviii. 16. Acts xv. 10. 1 Cor. vii. 14. as they come over in the debate again, are referred to their proper places. But, 3. It must not be forgotten, what is faid, that this may be a reason why Infant- baptifm is so sparingly mentioned, (not mentioned at all) because the custom of the Jews to baptize the children of profelytes to their religion with their parents, was well known; and there can be little doubt, that the apostles proceeded by the fame rule in admitting the infants of chriftian profelytes into the chriftian covenant by baptifm. This is building Infant-bapVOL. II. tifm

3 H

tifm on a bog indeed; fince this Jewish cuftom is not pretended to be of divine inftitution; and fo a poor argument in the Defence of the Divine Right of Infantbaptifm; and at most and beft, is only a tradition of the elders, which body of traditions was inveighed against by Chrift and his apoftles; and befides, this particular tradition does not appear to have obtained fo early among the Jews themselves, as the times of the apostles, and therefore could be no rule for them to proceed by; and about which the firft reporters of it difagree, the one affirming there was such a custom, and the other denying it; and had it then obtained, it is incredible the apoftles fhould make this the rule of their procedure in adminiftering an ordinance of Chrift: and after all, was this the cafe, this would be a reafon for, and not against the exprefs mention of Infant-baptifm by the divine hiftorian; fince it is neceffary that in agreement with this Jewish cuftom, fome inftance or inftances of chriftian profelytes being baptized with their children fhould be recorded, as an example for chriftians in fucceeding ages to go by. But, 4. A fuppofition is made of fome Pædobaptifts fent into an heathen country to preach, and giving an account of their fuccess, declaring that fome families were baptized, fuch a man and all his, fuch another and his houfhold; upon which a question is afked, who could raise a doubt whether any infants were baptized in thofe feveral families? To which I answer, there is no doubt to be made of it, that Pædobaptifts would baptize infants; and if the apofties were Pædobaptifts, which is the thing to be proved, they no doubt baptized infants too; but if no other account was given of the baptizing of houfholds, than what the apoftles give of them, Infant-baptifm would ftill remain a doubt. For who can believe, that the brethren in Lydia's houfe whom the apostles comforted, and of whom her houfhold confifted, or that the Jailor's houfhold, that believed and rejoiced with him, or the houfhold of Stepkanas, who addicted themselves to the ministry of the faints, were infants? however it seems, as there is no evidence of fact for Infant-baptifm in the New Teftament, it is referred to the teftimony of the ancient fathers; and to them then we must go.

II. The testimony of the fathers of the three first centuries is chiefly to be attended to; and whereas none in the first century are produced in favour of Infant-baptifm, we muft proceed to the fecond. In it, I obferve, there is but one writer, that it is pretended fpeaks of Infant-baptifm, and that is Irenæus, and but one paffage in him; and this is at beft of doubtful meaning, and by fome learned men judged fpurious; as when he says, Chrift "came to fave all, "all, I fay, who are regenerated (or born again) unto God; Infants, and little "ones, and children, and young men, and old men." Now, admitting the chapter in which this paffage ftands, is genuine and not fpurious, which yet is

not