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chriftian religion, or the rational believers of it, have nothing further to do with..... than to difen and dijavow them, becaufe, from any thing they could have met with there, they could never have thought of it. If they believe in the perpetuity of baptifm; that it was inftituted as a means and affiftance to preferve men fedfaft in the practice of those moral duties, which are of eternal and unchangeable obligation; and that it was defigned for the folemn admiffion of every member into the chriftian church, and thereby intitling him to all the privileges of being within the pale; fuch a plain fignificant rite, so free from all appearance of fuperftition and vanity, and Jo wifely fitted to the end for which it was defigned, that no man can justly, or with any reason, object against it; and yet neither be baptized themselves, norencourage and ftir up the people, who are under their care to regard Chrift's authority in this poin if on the contrary, they continue to adminifter infautbaptifm, or fome other thing inftead of it, to infants, and build their people up in the belief and practice of what themselves do not believe to be according to the pleasure and ordinance of God himself in that point; if they 7 most humbly breathe out their wishes and ardent prayers, that fuch fumbling blocks may be taken out of the way; and yet make no ftand against them, nor exert one effort for removing them, what can we think? May we not juftly afk them, how far fuch a conduct is confiftent with fincerity, and with that regard to Chrift's laws and authority, which as minifters of the gospel, they are bound, in duty and in confcience, uniformly to fhew forth in the whole of their converfation and miniftry; whether under these convictions they can answer fuch neglects at the awful bar of God in the great day of account; and whether Mr. Benfon, with all his Pædobaptift brethren, ought not calmly and ferioufly to confider these things for their own and their peoples fakes; many of whom perhaps have been misled and hindered from obeying and glorifying Chrift in this particular, as they might, and would otherwife have done? For as Mr. Benfon expreffes himself, • What interest is it of mine, that [my friend] Pyrrho fhould think and act right, but only that he is my 'friend, and that I fincerely with well to him and to M 2 • all

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Mr. Benfon' Di

4 Dr. Doddridge's Third Letter, p. 57 alogue, p. 25, 26. Mr. Mole's Grounds, p. 57Jon's Dialogue, p. 95. Ibid p. 63:

7 Mr. Ben

C all mankind; and fhould rejoice to fee all attend to evidence, honeftly acknowledge it, when they are convinced; and, in all refpects, take the right method in thinking and acting.'

But if after all, they will ftill neglect this important point of Chriftianity, what will Papifts and Infidels think, nay, what will they not fay of them and their religion? What greater advantage can they have, or defire to have against Chriftians and Proteftants, than their allowing a practice, which they confefs is unfcriptural? For as it i owned to be no part of the chriftian religion, thofe enemies of truth can eafily difcern their advantage, and know very well how to make a proper ufe of it. For which reafon, I fhall not be furprized to fee them baffled both by Papifts and Infidels, till they are thereby forced upon a reformation, which I fhould greatly rejoice to fee.

But furely thofe churches, which have carried the reformation fo far, as not to give the leaft handle to either, by an open neglect, or by making any unwarrantable alterations in Chrift's noft folemn inftitutions, ought as carefully to avoid giving the moft diftant occafion for faying, That tho' we are baptized ourfelves, yet we countenance other Chriftians in an open neglect of Chrift's ordinance, by communicating with them at the Lord's Table; notwithstanding we know, and believe in our own confciences, they never were baptized according to Chrift's appointment. For this, perhaps, will be faid to look too much like renouncing our own baptifm, and may by Infidels be thought no less than a tacit acknowledgment, that tho' we own Chrift for the legiflator of his church, yet there is not fo much regard due to his laws and inftitutions, as Chriftians fometimes pretend. And fince we live in an age of moft free inquiry, it will highly become all Chriftians to follow this advice of Minucius Felix; Let us make a good ufe of the bleffing of divine truth, let us govern our knowledge with difcretion, let fuperftition and impiety be no more, and let true religion triumph in their ftead.' Which God grant may be the happy iffue of these debates!

CON

CONCLUSIO N.

I HAVE now gone through all, that I at firft intend

ed, in making remarks upon the feveral answers to this infidel writer, which have been published by our Pædobaptift brethren; and think it not improper to inform my readers, that the reason, why I have not here fhewn from fcripture, what is the true way of adminiftering the ordinance of baptifm, and who are the proper fubjects, for whom only it was defigned, is firft, because the several authors of those anfwers have therein plainly and openly given up infant-baptism, as an unfcriptural thing, and as fuch, no part of the chriftian religion: fo that it was quite. unneceflary for me to attempt thofe proofs in making remarks upon their writings. Secondly, because I have already published a treatife upon the fubject, wherein the fcriptures, relating to that ordinance, are particularly confidered; to which I have fometimes referred, and for the fuller fatisfaction of all my readers, do here recommend to them, a serious perufal of that tract, intitled, A fupplement to the fermons preached against popery at SaltersHall: where they will find, that the commiffion, our Lord gave his difciples to baptize all nations, relates only to believers; which is confirmed from the general and particular instances recorded in fcripture of perfons baptized. I have there likewife given the reafons, why it extends to every believer, together with the great benefit it is of to all fuch, as come to it in the answer of a good confcience. The manner alfo how it was and ought to be administered, is fhewn from the hiftory of the evangelifts, the acts of the apoftles, and the allufions to Christ's death, burial and refurrection in their epiftles. And I have therein answered the various arguments of our brethren for infant baptifm, and the objections made against our practice of immerfion. I have set forth something of the evil which attends altering the divine inftitution, and fhewn that Proteftants have no more power to do so, nor can it be more lawful for them, than it is for Papists. I have fupported the whole from antiquity, and many paffages taken from the writings of our Pædobaptift brethren; and at laft fhewn fomething of the moral obligation, which every believer in Chrift is under, of fubmit

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ting to his inftitution; with the ufe which baptifm and the Lord's-Supper are of to promote true piety and ftrict virtue, as well as to fecure us from fuperftition and infidelity. All which, if duly confidered, with the appendix to the laft editions in anfwer to Mr. Emlyn's previous queftion, and what I have here faid, will, I hope, be sufficient to convince our Pædobaptift brethren, how neces fary a reformation is; and fo induce them to lay aside infant-fprinkling, that unfcriptural practice, which, by their own confeffion, is no part of the chriftian religion. That thereby they may no longer expofe Chriftianity to the ri dicule of Infidels, but may prevent such objections against it for the time to come.

And as the worthy and learned members of our two Universities, together with fome eminent minifters of our diffenting brethren, out of their fincere love and pious regard to Chriftianity, have given up this traditionary practice, in their feveral defences of our holy religion against the growing and daring infidelity of the age; L hope there are no Proteftants fo bigotted to popith corruptions, or mere human ceremonies, as to thew themfelves the great enemies of divine revelation, by pretending to vindicate a practice from thence, which is fo manifeftly injurious to Chriftianity, as it gives fuch countenance to the fcoffs and derifion of deifts; and is fo great an encouragement to their infidelity.

But,

Finally, confidering that these Remarks may poffibly fall into the hands of fome readers, who have never feen my fupplement, I will therefore, for the fake of fuch, briefly add fomething for their fatisfaction.

And I think all that is neceflary for a fufficient, if not the compleat illuftration of this fubject, may be reduced to one or other of thefe three heads of inquiry.

What it is to be baptized into Chrift.

Who, according to the plain fenfe of the inftitution itself, the general doctrine of the New Teftament, and the general practice of the apoftles, are the proper fubjects of baptifm. And,

Whether it was intended as a temporary inftitution, and to be confined to profelytes only, or is of univerfal and perpetual obligation.

As there is a great compafs and variety of argument included under each of thefe heads, I must content myfelf with giving fhort sketches, without expatiating on every particular; but hope however, tho' in an abstract, to

give

give obvious and convincing reafons on the fide of what I apprehend to be the truth, and a clear confutation of all oppofite pretences.

In the firft place, what are we to underftand by the fcripture expreffion, of being baptized into Chrift? The general fenfe is moft evidently this, that we are baptized into the folemn profeffion and acknowledgment of his religion, which he was commiffioned by God to reveal and publish, and enabled to confirm and establish by many unquestionable, great, and beneficent miracles: juft as the Jews being baptized into Mofes implied in it, in the fentiment of St. Paul, who made ufe of that phrase, their owning him as their leader, and his inftitution to be divine. Thus far the matter feems to be perfectly unperplexed and free from difficulty.

"And the manner in which this action of being baptized into Chrift, is to be performed, is alfo as clear and certain; because from the nature of the inftitution, there cannot be two different modes of adminiftering one and the fame divine ordinance. For the very nature of baptifm fo neceffarily implies dipping, that where afperfion, or perfufion only are made ufe of, there cannot, in propriety of fpeech, be any baptifm at all, becaufe baptism, and dipping, are the fame thing. And the feveral allufions made to it in fcripture, as of a death, burial, and refurection, are a fufficient proof of this; where Chriftians are faid to be baptized into Chrift's death, with a manifeft reference to his being buried and rifing again from the grave, and in this fenfe St. Paul clearly, and ftrongly expreffes himself, over and over again, Rom. vi. where it is faid, We are buried with him by baptifm into death: that like as Chrift was raifed up from the dead by the glory of the father, even fo we also should walk in newness of life. And following the metaphor ftill further he adds; for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death: we fhall be alfo in the likeness of his refurrection. And again, Coloff. ii. 12. buried with Chrift in baptifm, wherein alfo you are rifen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who raifed him from the dead.

The hiftorical accounts also, which we have in fcripture of perfons baptized, neceffarily oblige us to confine our idea of that folemn inftitution to immerfion or dipping only. I fhall here only mention two inftances. The firft is that of our Saviour himself, whofe command and example should be the fole rule of every believer's conduct;

and

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