Tomline on Article XXVII: Of Baptism

Baptism is derived from the Greek word Bdirru, which signifies to wash. Washing, as a religious rite, is not confined to Christianity; it was in use both among the Heathen and the Jews, and from the universality of the practice we may con- dude that it is founded in the natural principles

of

ART. XXVII.] Thirt^-nine Articles. 449

of the human constitution fa.” Bodily cleanliness kas ever been m esteem anrong civilized nations ;- and the ablutions and lustrations, which have prevailed in the different system of paganism, are to be considered as emblematical of internal purity. Tertullian says, that the heathen used baptism in the mysteries of Apollo and Ceres, in regieratipnem et impunitatem peijuriorum suorum (b) ; ” and Grotius, from Josephus, men- tions a practice, which was very common among Gentiles, of washing their bodies, after they had formed a determination to lead a virtuous life, under a persuasion that such an ablution washed away the effect of their former sins (c. The Jews do not baptize those who are Jews by birth, it being a maxim with them, Filium baptizati pro baptiz&to habere;” but frt)m the earliest period of their history, they have con- stantiy baptized all who have been converted to

their

(a) Dr. Hey.

(b) De Baptismo, cap. 5.

(c) Josephus,ut JoannisBaptistse ablutionem a gen- tium ablutionibus discemeret, qusB aqua marin&, aut etiamvivo flumine,culpas suas elui,animosque purgari a delictor um conscientii existimabant, de quibus poeta,

[…]

VOL. ir. « G

450 Exposition of the [part hi.

their religion (c). Proud of their own distino* tion as the peculiar people of God, they have always believed the rest of mankind to be in an unclean state, and incapable of entering into the covenant of the children of Abraham, without a washing to denote purification from former un- cleanness. The Jews represent this baptism as derived from the law of Moses ; and upon the authority of the following passage assert, that die Israelites themselves were baptized in the wilder* ness previous to their admission into covenantwidi God : And the Lord said unto Moses, Go untd all the people, and sanctify them today and to morrow ; and let them wash their cloaths, and be ready against the third day ; for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai (d) By the com mand to sanctify the people, the Jews understand that Moses was to cause all the people to b washed, and their rabbis and commentators (c) produce many passages in the Pentateuch where

the

(c) Hammond on Matt. c. 3. v. 19 and 23. Selden dc Jure Nat. et Gent, juxta Hebraeos. Lightfoot, Hon Heb. in Matt. 3. and John 3.

(d) Exod. c. 19. V. 10 and 11.

(e) Vide Wall’s Introduction to Infant Baptism, and the Authors quoted by him. Wall has also proved that the antient Christian fathers used the word sanctify for baptize, c. 11. part 1.

ART.*xxVii.] !ftiifiy-nine Articles. 451

the word sacrifice has that signification ; and as Moses expressly ordered, * one law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger (f)y they held it to be necessary to baptize prose- lytes : ” By three things,” says Maimonides, ’ did Israel enter into covenant; by circumcision, and baptist, and sacrifice : circumcision was in Egypt, as it is written. No uncircumcised pon shall eat thereof ; baptism was in the wilderness, just before the giving of the law, as it is written. Sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their cloaths ; and sacrifice, as it is said, And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, which offered burnt-offerings ; and so in all ages when a heathen is willing to be a prose- lyte to our religion, he must be circumcised, and be baptized, and bring a sacrifice (g When John commanded the Jews to repent, he com- manded them also to be baptized, not only as a symbol of sanctification, but as a confession of their being sinners; and the Jews, accustomed to this practice upon the admission of the heathen into their society, expressed no surprise at the connexion of repentance and purification ; they only enquired who he was that assumed to

himself

(f) Nqmbers, c. 15. v. 16.

[…]

452 Ettpositio^ of the [part iii.

himself «uch an authority (h). Our Saviour gave his sanction to the baptism of John, bj requiring John to baptize him (i).

That Christ, during his ministry, directed those who declared their belief in his divine mission to be baptized, and that after his resurrection he commanded all nations to be baptized in the name of the blessed Trinity, has been already noticed f/rj And we learn from the Acts, that the Apostles preached baptism as the appointed and necessary form of being ad- mitted into the xeligion of Jesus, and that those who embraced the Christian faith were inva- riably baptized St. Peter, after his sermon on tue day of Pentecost, which was the veiy first attempt to propagate the Gospel after the as- cension of our Saviour, said to his hearers 1* Repent, and be.Japtized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ ; and they that gladly received his word were baptized (l), When, the Samaritans ” believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women (m)” AgEin, after Cornelius

and

(h) John, c. 1. V. 19, &c.

(i) Matt. c. 3. V. 13. (k) Art 25.

(I) Acts, c, 2. V. 38 and 41,

(m) Acts, c. 8. V. 12.

ART. XXVII.] ihifit/^ne Articles. 45J

and his friends had received the Holy Ghost, and so were already baptiied in that sense, Peter asked, Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we (n) ;” And at Ephesus St. Paul baptized several persons in the name of Jesus, who had already been’ baptized by John the Baptist (0). When, therefore, John says, ” that he baptized with water, but Christ shall baptize with the Holy Ghost (/)/’ he does not mean, that Christians should not be baptized* with water, but that they should have the Holy Ghost poured out upon them in consequence,’ and as the distinguishing privilege, • of Christ’s baptism. When St. Paul says, that Christ sent him ” not to baptize, but to preach the Gos- pel (q)y” he means that preaching was the prin- cipal thing he was to do in person; he might appoint others to baptize under him, and it ap-’ pears that he generally did. In like manner St. Peter did not baptize Cornelius and his friends himself, but commanded them to be baptized by others ; and we read in St. John’s Gbspef, that ” Jesus baptized not, but his disciples (r).

Baptism,

(n) Acts^ c. 10. v. 47. Co) Acts, c. 19. v. 5^ (p) MiBitt, c. 3. V. 11. (q) I Cor. 1. V. 17>

(r) John, c. 4. V. 2.

G G3

454 Ejcposition of the [paet iii^

Baptism, thus instituted by Christ, and prac* tised by his Apostles, hasbeen continued in every age of the Christian church. This fact is so universally acknowledge, that it is unnecessaiy to produce authorities in support of its truth; but it may be useful to quote from the early ecclesiastical writers a few passages, which may serve to explain the customs formerly used in the performance of this holy ordinance. We will relate,” says Justin Martyr, in his Apology pre-, sented to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, about forty years after the death of St John the Evan* gelist, ’ in what manner we dedicate ourselves to our God, being renewed by Christ, lest by omitting this we should appear to act unfiedrly in this account. Whoever are persuaded and be- lieve that those things are true, which are taut and said by us, and promise to live agreeably to them, are instructed to pray and ask of God widi fasting, forgiveness of their former sins ; and we also pray and fast together with them. Then are they led by us to a place where there is water, and they are rnerated in the same maimer we ourselves were regenerated ; for they are washed’ in the name of God the Father and Lord of ally of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost. For Christ said, if ye be not regene- rated, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of

heaven.’*

AUT.i XXVII.] Tbirty-mne Articles. 455

heaven (s).” And Tertullilan, who lived about sixty years afterwards, says, ’ They that come to baptism must use the devotions of frequent prayer, fastings, kneelings, and watchings, and the coitfession of all their past sins, that they may at least do as much as was done in John’s baptism (t).” From these passages it appears, that the persons to be baptized were required to undergo certain preparations, and to make c^tain promises; and that the whole of this important business might be conducted with the greater r^ularity and solemnity, it was customary to perform baptism, except in cases of necessity, only twice in the year, namely, at Easter and MThitBuntide. The candidates gave in their names several weeks before the day appointed; they w^re in the mean time instructed and examined by the ministers of the church ; and it was indispensably necessary that they should be able to give some account of the grounds of their faith; and besides this pre vious instruction, they were called upon, at the time of their baptism, by answering certain questions, to declare their belief in the funda- mental doctrines of the Gospel, and to promise obedience to its precepts, in a manner similar to our form of baptizing adult persons ; and in case

of

(s) Apol. 2. (t) Tert. de Bap.

G 6 4

456 Exposition of the [va ttr itu

of infants, sponsors answered, as they do with w, those questions, and made those pronaiises in thdr name ; and thus Augustine says, ’ Infants do profess repentance by the words of them that bring them, when they do by them renounce fhe devil and this world (u)’ Baptism was always accompanied with prayers suited to the occasion. The antient mode of baptizing was by immer* sion (w) or by dipping the whole body of the person, whatever was his age, into wat ; and in the primitive times they made use of any water which was nearest at hand: It is the same thing,” says Tertullian, ” whether we be washed in the sea, or in a pond, or in a fountain, or in a river, in a standing or in a running water (x)” But when churches were built, some part of the church, or a building near it, called the baptistery, was appropriated to this

use;

(u) Lib. 1. cap. 19. de. Pec. Mor.

(w) Wall, part 2, c. 9. sect. 2. Mersatione enim^ non periusione, agi solitum hunc ritum baptismi per apostolos, implicat et vocis proprietas, et loca ad eum ritum delecta, Joan. c. 3. v. 23. Acta, c 8. v. 38, et allu- siones multae, in coram scriptis, quae ad aspersionem rcferri non possunt, Rom. c. 6. v. 3 et 4. Col. c. 2. V. 12. Serius aliquanto invaluisse videtur mos per- fimdendi sive aspergendi, in eorum gratiam, qui iu gravi morbo cubantes nomen dari Christo expetebant quo8 cseteri KXinxa^ vocabant. Grot.

(x) De Bapt. cap. 4.

AnT. XXVII.] Thirty^ine Articles. 457

use; and the ministers not only dipped the persons baptized, but they also plunged thdr heads three times under water, once when Aey pronoun the name of the Father, a second time when they pronounced the name of the Son, and tlurd time when they pronounced the name of the Holy Ghost. ” Our Saviour command ed,” says TertuUian, *’ that the Apostles should baptize unto the Father, and unto the Son, and imto the Holy Ghost ; not unto one person for we are not plunged once, but three times once at the naming of each name (y)’ And one of tfie apostoUcal canons (z) (which are very antient, thou they have no right to be called apostolical) orders, that any bishop or presbyter, who does not use the trine immersion, should be deposed. Jerome (a) Basil, (b) and Chrysos- Xoxxi(c)y all mention the three immersions in baptism. Gregory the Great considers it as a matter of no importance, whether a person be dipped once or thrice : In the same faith diffe- rent usages of the church do no harm ; thus, whereas there is in the three persons but one

substance^

(y) Adv.Prax.cap.a6. Vide also de Cor. Mil. cap. 1. (“zjCan.so.inCotelerius’s edition of ApostFathers. (a) Epist. cont. Lucif. (b) De Spir. Sanct.

(c) Horn, de Fide.

458 Exposition of the [part hi.

substance, there could be no blame in dipMng the infapt dither once or tfaripe; for that by tfaiee immersions the three persons are represented, as by one the singularity of the substance is signi- fied (d)’ But thou trine immersion was the usual mode of baptisdngi yet in cases of sicknesa or weakness, they only sprinkled water upon the face. Both the general practice, and the cases of exception, fully appear ftom the following pas- sage of an epistle of Cyprian : ” You enquire also, dear s(m, what I think of such as obtain the grace (that is, of baptism) in time of their sickness or infimyty, whether they are to be ac- counted lawful Christians, because they are not washed all over with the water of salvation, bat have only some of it poured on them (e) ;” - and after reasoning at a considerable lengthy be om eludes, that such baptism is valid ; and that if persons recover, it is not necessary that they should be baptized by immersion. However, in the. early times they did not allow those who had ’ received this clinic baptism, as it was called, to be admitted to the holy order of priesthood ; and this was among the objections urged against the election of Novatian to the bishopric of Rome,

that

[…]

(e) Epist. 6g. edit. Ozon.

AKT. XXVII.] Thirty-nine Articles. 45^

that he had been baptized when sick in bed (f). Baptism by afiusion was also used upon other extraordinary occaiuons as probably when three thousand persons were .baptized at the same time (g)y and when the gaoler and hb feunily were baptized in the night by Paul and Silas (hj The earliest author who mentions baptism by aspersion, as a common practice, is Gennadius of MarseiUes (iX in the fifth century, who says, that baptism was administered indifferently, either by immersion or by sprinkling, in his time, in the Gallic church. In the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas says, that baptism may be given not only by immersion, but also by afiu- sion of water, or sprinkling with it ; but it is the safer way to baptize* by immersion, because that is the more common custom f ArJ.” Erasmus teUs us, that in his time, that is in the reign of King Henry the eighth, it was the custom to sprinkle in&nts in Holland, anch to dip them in *£nand (I). When affusion was first substi- tuted in the room of immersion, they poured the water three times upon the hce, as appears firom

the

(f) Eus. Hist. Ecc. lib. 6. cap. 43.

(g) Acts, c. 2. ¥,41. (h) Acts, c. 16. V.33. (i) De Eccl. Dogm, cap. 74.

(k) 3 In. 66. Art. 7, (I) In Epist. 76..Cyp.

460 Ea^positim of the [part iil

the Council of Anglers, in the thirteenth century, and the same practice continued in Germany as late as the middle of the fifteenth century (m). In the Common Prayer book, printed in 1549, the second year of King Edward the sixth’s reigD, the minister is directed to dip the child in the water thrice; but in the Prayer Books pub- lished at the end of his reign the word thrice is omitted ; and Watson, bishop of Lincoh, in a sermon published 1558, the last year of Queen Mary s reign, says, that, ^’ though the antient tradition of the church has been from the b^in- ning to dip the child three times, yet that it is not of such necessity, but that if it be but once dip* ped in the water, it is sufficient ; yea, and in time of great paril and necessity, if the water be but poured on the head, it will sufKce.” In the reign of Queen Elizabeth immersion came by d^rees into disuse; and this alteration was in great measure owing to the principles which some of our divines had imbibed at Geneva, where they had taken refuge during the reign of Queen Mary ; for Calvin (n)j in his form of baptism, directs that the minister should pour water upon the infant, and this was the first public form

of

Cmj Vide W^l. parts, e.g. (n) Inst. lib. 4. cap. 15,

AM. xxVli.] Thirty-nine Articles. 461

of baptism which prescribed affusion. Our present Tubrick directs that the minister, ” if they shall certify him that the child may well endure it, shall dip it in the water ; but if they certify that the child is weak, it shall suffice to pour water upon it :” however, no certificate or enquiry has for a long time been made upon this subject; but for these last two hundred years it has been the general practice in this country, perhaps with some exceptions at the beginning of that period, to baptize children by sprinkling them once with water. Immersion was left off in most of the western churches much earlier than in England, but it still continues the universal custom among the Christians of the East.

No particular direction being given in Scripture concerning the manner in which water is to be applied in baptism, we may allow immersion, affusion, or aspersion, and whether it be performed three times or once, to be equally valid. Immer- sion, that is, burying, as it were, the person bap- tized in the water, and raising him out of it again, may be considered as representing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and our being dead and buried to sin, and rising again to a life of piety and virtue. ” We are buried,” says St. Paul, ” with him by baptism unto death ; that lik« as Christ was raised up from the dead by the

glory

462 Expositum of the [part hi.

Iory of the Fathea*, even so we also should walk in newness of life (oy But pouring or sprink- ling of water may likewise sufficiently express our purification from the guilt of past sins, and our obligation to keep ourselves in future unspotted by those things which defile the inner man. This mode of baptism, moreover represents that ” sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (p) to which we owe our salvation ; and the use of it seems not only to be foretold by the prophet Isaiah, who says of our Saviour, that he shall sprinkle many nations (q’ that is, many shall receive his baptism ; and by the prophet Ezekiel, ” Then will I sprinkle clean watar upon you, and ye shall be clean (r) ; ” but to be had in view also by the Apostle, where he speaks of our having ’ our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water (s)”

Another practice in baptism, common among early Christian?, and adopted by our church, is, signing the forehead with the sign of the cross. Indeed the use of the cross was very frequent in the primitive times : ” At every setting out,** says Tertullian, ” or entry upon business, when- ever

(0) Rom. c. 6. V. 4. (p) 1 Pet. c. 1. v. 2.

(q) Is. c. 62. V. 15. ^ (r) EaJek. c. 36. v. 25. (s) Heb. c. 10. V. 22.

ART. XXVII-] Thirty-mne Articles. 463

ever we come into, or go out from, any place, when we dress for a journey, when we go mto a bath when we go to meat, when the candles are brought in, when we lie down or sit down, and whatever business we have, we make on our foreheads the sign of the cross (t) ;” and upon another occasion, in speaking of baptism, he says, the flesh is signed, that the soul may be fortified (u The same practice is men- tioned by many other writers as invariably used whenever a person was baptized ; and it was done, as is expressed in our form of baptism, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the fiedth of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue Christ’s fiuthful soldier and servant unto his life’s end.”

In antient times a mixture of milk and honey was given immediately after baptism, and a white garment was put upon the persons baptized, as emblematical of the purity which they had now acquired; and from these white garments the day of Pentecost, which was one of the stated times for baptism, was called White-sunday or Whit-sunday.

We now proceed to explain more particularly

the

(t) De Cor. Mil. cap. 2. (u) De Bapt.

464 • E^sition of the [part hi.

the different parts of the article, which first de- clares that BAPTISM IS NOT ONLY A SIGN OF

OR NEW-BIRTH. All men being, through the disobedience of our first parents, subject to death, the rit of baptism, by which we are admitted into the religion of Jesus, ’ who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light (v),” is with great propriety, called ” a sign of regeneration.” The original corruption of our nature is thus washed away, and we are born again to new hopes and new prospects, as is represented in the passage just now quoted from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, in which he says, that ” we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (w).’* And to Titus he says, ” According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost (d’).” — By baptism we become ” dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord C.”—-

” W

(v) 2 Tim. c. 1. V. 10. (w) Rom. c. 6. v, 4.

Cx) Tit. c. 3. T. 5. (y) Rom, c.6. v. 1 1.

[…]

” We put off tHe old mah wisH his fleeds, and j[)‘ut on the flew man, which is renewed in know-, ledge afte the imagi of him that created Kim (zy — Thiis is the inward effect of bap- tism constantiy assted in Scripture, Wef are said to be ” boim agafa of water and the spirit,’* which are frequently mentioned together, thi one applied externally, and the other operating internally. Baptism, therefore, is not a mere ex- ternal badge or token of our being Christians ; it fe a new birth from the death of sin, and a rege- neration to a new Kf6 in Christ ; it is a change and renovation of nature by the spirit ahd grafee* of God ; ft U an infusion of spiritual life into the’ soul, by which it is made capable of perfoniiing s]iritual actibns, and of living unto God.

[…]

For ” by one spirit we are all baptized into ond body (a).^ Every baptism is to be considered as a li^t baptisih, which fs administered with water, by persbiis dWy authorized, in the rikihe of the Fatfii^r, and of the Son, arid of thb rfoly GhOst; and dll thfey who are so baptized becoibe nietti- bers of one body in Christ, and aife united in ohS holy Catliblic church.

The promises of the forgiveness ofsin,

AND

(x) Col. c. 3. V. 9 8c 10. (a) 1 Cor. c. 12! v. I3’.

466 Hrposition of the [partiii.

AND OF aUE ADOPTION TO BE THE SONS OF

AND SEALED. Baptism is the sign and seal of the Christian covenant, the great characteristic doctrine of which is the promise of forgiveness d sins : ’ Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re- mission of sins (b) ;” and St. Paul, in the pas- sage already quoted from his Epistle to Titos, declares, that our salvation is accomplished by baptism, and by the regenerating influence of the Holy Ghost, which is the infallible conse- quence of our ’ holding fast the profession of our faith f c,” which we make in baptism. Bat we must remember what we learn from St. Peter, that the btqtism which saveth us is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (d).’ The answer of a good conscience can be no otherwise secured than by a faithful adherence to those engage- ments which we make in baptism ; this it is which really saves us through the merits of Christ, and not the bare performance of the outward ordinance.

The adoption to be the sons of god is

another

(b) Acts, c. 2. V. 38. (c) Heb. c, 10. v. 2^.

(d) 1 Pet. c, 3. v. ai.

[…]

another effect of baptism : ” For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ (e)y

Faith i« confirmed and grace in- creased BY VIRTUE OF PRAYER UNTO GOD.

This is the natural and constant effect of sincere and devout prayer ; and we may rest assured that God will not fail to hear those who call upon him at the jyerformance of the holy rite of baptism.

Baptism therefore is a foederal admission into Christianity ; it is the s6al of a contract in which all the privileges and blessings of the Gospel are on God’s part conditionally promised to the per- sons baptized; and they on the other hand en- gage by a solemn profession and vow to main- tain the doctrines, and observe the precepts, of the Christian religion.

The spiritual effects of baptism are clearly asserted in the antient ecclesiastical writers ; and nothing can mark more strongly the high idea they entertained of the importance of this Sacra- ment, than the names whiCrh they applied to it : they called it a divine indulgence ; an absolution from sin ; birth in water ; a regeneration of the soul ; the laver of regeneration ; the water

of (e) Gal. c. 3. V. 26 & 27.

468 Expositum (ff the [paet hi.

of life ; the unctton ; the seal of the Lord ; tfai illumination ; the salvation ; &e gaiment of im* mortality; the priesthood of the laity; and Ai signature of the faith (f).

The last part of this article asserts iSbe lawful- ness of infant baptism. The command givai to Abraham, and repeated by Moses, to drcomciK children on the eighth day after their birA, plainly proves, that there is no imprcMJety in admitting infants into a religious covenant ; and this command, when applied to baptism, \xb tile greater weit, as it is generally agreed that dr- eumdsion was a type of baptism. The practice of die Jews in baptizing proselytes has been already noticed; and it is farther to be observed, that if a prosdytis had infent children bom to him when he was himself baptized, they weie also baptized, though children, bom after the father had embraced the Jewish rdigion, were not baptized. Baptism was instituted’ by our Saviour in very general terms, ” Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing than in the name df the Father, and of the Sdn, and of die Holy Ghost (g):’ In this form of baptism tho, is no restriction or exception whatever. Natfons consist of persons of all ages, and therefore

mfantSi

(f) Wall and Bingham, book ir. eh. I.

(g) Matt. c. 28. T. 19.

ART. XXVII.] Thfrty-nine Articles. 469

infants, as well as adults, must be included m this command as the objects of baptism; and this faiference will be the more evident, when we re- fleet that the commission was gven to Jews, who were accustomed to see infants baptized ; and they would of course consider themsdves au- thorized to receive converts to Christianity in th& sajP[& planner as they had recdved converts to Judaism. Had our Saviour intended aQy. alteration in the Jewish practice of baptizing or any limitation with respe to age, he would not have failed to specify it. ’ If the baptism of infcmts,” says Dr. Lightfoot, had been as Hnheaid of, as unseen, and as new be- fore the conung of John as circumcision was till it pleased God to enjoin it to Abraham, thea there is no doubt but God would have either marked his approbation of it by an example, or have enjoined it by command, as we know that( circumcision was enjpined. But since, among all the rites of the Jews, there was not a single’ one more public, or mora known, than this very baptism of intuits, which \*as as familiar tb them as their circumcision, whether we re- jprd the: time when John appeared, or many ages prior to himi. it by no meahs follows, tlmt ap example, or an express command,

was

H H 3

470 Exposition of the [part hi.

was as necessary concerning the baptizing of infeints when John came, as it was concern- ing the circumcision of infants or others in the time of Abraham, as being a thing which had been neither heard of, nor seen in all the world, before it was instituted by God (h)^ There is nothing in the nature of baptism, which renders it improper or unsuitable for children: it is a foederal rite instituted for the benefit of those who receive it ; and parents, whose duty it is to provide for the eternal, as well as for the temporal, welfare of their children, are, by the law of nature, empowered to cause them to enter into this engagement, Which they may themselves hereafter ratify and confirm ; and the Jewish writers state this as the ground upon which they required the infant children of proselytes to be baptized. If parents be com- manded to ” bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (i)^ surely it is incumbent upon them to take care that they, be made members of that religion, in the precepts and doctrii^ of which they are to be instructed. If the promise be made to us and to our children, without any limitation of age, why should they not all, since they are to

partake

(h) Harm* in Joan. c. i. t. 25, (%) Eph. c. 6. y. 4.

A!iT. XX VII.] Thirty-nine Articles. 47 1

partake of the promise, partake also of its sign ? especially since the infants of the Jews were all admitted into the religion of Moses by that so- lemn sign which was figurative of baptism ; and our Saviour and his Apostles called upon the Jews to relinquish the ordinances of the Mosaic dispensation for those of the Christian. Our Saviour encouraged those who brought little chil- dren to him ; he put his hands upon them, and declared that of such is the kingdom of hea- ven (k). As the Apostles baptized whole families at once (l), and no mention is made in the Acts or Epistles of adults only being baptized, we conclude that among others they baptized children. There are passages in the remaining works of Clement of Rome and Hennas, both apostolical fathers, which seem to indicate that infant-baptism prevailed when they wrote. Justin Martyr fmj and Irenaeus (n) in the second century, and Origen (0) in the beginning of the third, expressly mention infant-baptism as the constant practice of their times ; and the same thing appears from an application of Fidus, an

African

(k) Mark, c. 10. v. 14.

(I) Acts, c. 10. V. 48. c. 16. V. 15 and 33. 1 Cor. c. 1. V. 16. (m)Apol. 2da.

(n) Adv. Haer. lib. 2. cap. 39. (0) Horn. 14, in Lucam^

• 47? Expwtum of the [part hi.

African bishop, to Cyprian, bishop of Cartilage, in which he takes for granted the custom wA propriety of baptizing infants, and only desires \f know whether tey may be baptized before the eighth day after tbdr birth, that toeing tbq day on which circumcision was perforned by tifie law of Moses. This question was considcml in an African synod, held a. v. 254, at which sixty-six bishops were present, d it was unani mously decreed, that ” it was not necessary to defer baptism to that day ; and that the giacQ of God, or baptism, shoul be given to aU, and specially to infants/’ This decision was coipi* municated in a letter from Cyprian to Fidus (pj In the fourth century Ambrose says, that in- puts, who are baptized, are refoqned from wickedness to the primitive state of their na- ture fq) ; and at the end of that century the fEimous controversy took place between Augus- tine and Pelagius concerning original sin ; 19 which the uniform practice of baptizing infants from the days of the Aposties was admitted by both parties, although they assigned different reasons for it ; and Caelestius, a follower of Pela- gius, when examined before the Council of Car- thage, A. D. 412, acknowledged that infiants stand in need of baptism, and that they out

to (p) Cyp. Ep. 59. (q) Comment, in Lucam, c. 1 o.

ART. XXVII.] Thirty-nine Articles. 473

to be baptized. Tertullian is the only antient author (r) who objects to infant baptism ; and his manner of opposing it shews evidently that it was the general practice in his time; but even he contends that infants ought to be baptized if their lives be in danger, which is in fact allow- ing the principle upon which in£&nt-baptism is founded. His opinion was so little regarded, that Augustine says, he never heard of any Christian, catholic or sectary, who taught any other doctrine than that infants are to be bap* tized (s). In&nt-baptism is not mentioned in the canons of any council, general or provincial, nor is it inserted as an object of £siith in any creed ; and thence we infer that it was a point not controverted at any period of the antient church; and we know that it was the prac- tice in all established national churches. Wall says, that Peter Bruis, a Frenchman, who lived about the year 1030 (whose followers were called Petrobrussians) was the first Anti-pcedobaptist

teacher

(r) Gregory Nazianzen gave it as his opinion, that children ought not to be baptized till they were three years old ; but as children of that age are certainly incapable of answering for themselves, \te 1^*1^ scarcely to consider him as an enemy to the principles of infant-baptism.

(i) De Pecc. Mor* cj[^« 6..

474 Exposition of the [pajit iir^

teacher who had a regular congregation (t). The Anabaptists of Germany took their rise in the beginning of the fifteenth century, but it does not appear that there was any congregation of Anabaptists in England till the year 1 640.

Upon these grounds we conclude that the

CHRIST. It is to be observed, that it is not here asserted that the baptism of young children is itself commanded in the Gospel, for there certainly is no such command ; it is only declared to be

CHRIST ; that is, it is more conformable to the general tenor and principles of the Christian re- ligion, that infants should be baptized, than that baptism should be deferred till they arrive at an age of maturity.

The Papists admit of the baptism of infants by midwives, or any layman, upon the unautho- rized principle that no person whatever can be saved who has not been baptized. Lay-bap- tism was also allowed in our church for a few years after the Reformation ; but in the year ^575j hy which time the Scriptures were more

examined)

(t) Part 2. c. 7.

ART. XXVII.] Thirty-nine Articles. 475

examined^ and the nature of Sacraments was better understood, it was unanimously decreed in convocation, that baptism should be administered by none but lawful ministers. The papists also mix oil and balsam with the water ; but water only is mentioned in the New Testament,

476 Exyositim of the [fa^thi.