\st Argument. If children during their inlancy are caj)able of grace, then they are capable (d' baptism ; but children in their infancy are capable of grace, therefore they are capable of baj)tism. I prove the minor, that they are capable of grace, thus : if children in their infancv mav be saved, then they are capable of grace ; but children in their infancy may be saved ; which is prov- ed thus: if the kingdom of heaven may be- long to them, then they may be saved, but the kingdom of heaven may belong to them, as it is clear from Mark x. 14., " Of such is the kingdom of God." Who then can forbid that the seal of baptism should be ap- plied to them?
2d Arg. If infants may be among the
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number of God's servants, then tljcrc is no reason wliy tlicy should he shut out of" (Jod's family; but infants may be in tlie number of God's servants, tliat is eviiknt because God calls them his servants, Lev. xxv. 41, 42., " He shall depart from tlice and his children with him, for they are my servants." Therefore children in their infancy boinn;^ God's servants, wliy should they not have baptism, which is the tessera, — the mark or seal wliich God sets upon his servants?
M Arg. Is from 1 Cor. vii. 14., "But now are your children holy." Children are not called holy, as if they were free from original sin ; but in the judgment of charity they are to be esteemed holy, and true members of the church of God, because their parents are believers. Hence tliat ex- cellent divine Mr. Heldersam saith, " that the children of the faithful as soon as they are born, have a covenant-holiness, and so a right and title to baptism, which is the token of the covenant."
Ath Arg. From the opinion of the fathers and the practice of the church. (1.) The ancient fathers were strong asserters of in- fant-baptism, Irenaeus, Basil, Lactantius, Cyprian and Austin. (2.) It was the prac- tice of the Greek church to baptize her in- fants. Erasmus saith, that infant-baptism hath been used in the church of God for a- bove fourteen hundred years. And St. Aus- tin, in his book against Pelagius, affirms, that it hath been the custom of the church in all ages to baptize infants. Yea, it was an apostolical practice; St. Paul affirms, that lie baptized the whole house of Stepha-
nus, 1 Cor. i. 16.
And as you have seen scripture-argu- ments for infant-baptism, so let us consider whether the practice of those who delay tlie baptizing of children till riper years, be warrantable. For my part, I cannot gath- er it from scripture. For though we read of persons adult and grown up to years of discretion, in the apostles' times, baptized, yet those were such as were converted from lieathenish idolatry to the true orthodox faith; but that in a Christian church the children of believers should be kept unbap- tized several years, I know neither precept nor example for it in scripture, but it is wholly apocryphal. The baptizing of per-
sons grown up to maturity, we may argue against nh effecht, — from the ill consequence of it: they dip the persons they baptize over head and ears in cold water, aiul nak- ed, which as it is indecent, so it is danger- ous, and hath been oftentimes the occasion of chronical diseases, yea, death itself, and so it is a plain breach of the sixth com- mandment. And how far (Jod hath given up many persons, who are for the deferring of baptism, to other A'ile opinions and vici- ous practices, is evident, if we consult with history, especially if we read OA'er the act- ing of the anabaptists in Germany.
Use \st. See the riches of God's goodness, who will not only be the God of believers, but takes their seed into covenant. Gen. xvii. 7., " I will establish my covenant be- tween me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to be a God unto thee and thy seed." A father counts it a great privilege, not only to have his own name, but his child's name put in a will.
Use 2d. It blames those parents who for- bid little children to be brouglit to Clnist : they withhold the ordinance. Bv deiiviiiir their infants baptism, they exclude them from having a membership in the vi.vihh; church, and so their infants are sucking pagans. Such as deny their children baj)- tism, make God's institutions under the law more full of kindness and grace to children, than they are now under the gospel ; which how strange a paradox it is, I leave you to judge.