Next, they make it irresistible ; for the child can- not withstand the power of the priest.
Next, they make it zvithout any co-operation on our part ; for the child is wholly passive.
Next, they make it arbitrary according to the will of man ; who may hasten it, or delay it, or prevent it, exactly as he pleases : whereas it is expressly said of all Christians, that they are '^born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God'."
Next, they make it so determinable in point oj time, that not the person himself only, but the whole world also, may know it, by consulting the register where the ceremony is recorded.
And, lastly, they are assured of it, not only without any evidence at all, but in the very face of all imaginable evidence to the contrary.
Who, I would ask, are the enthusiasts now ? I will further ask. Whether the wildest fanatic that can be found at this day in Christendom entertains notions half so fanatical as these ?
The Jews laid great and unscriptural stress on circumcision : but did they ever say that the circum- cision of the flesh was the same as the circumcision of the heart ? Or do our advocates for baptismal regeneration give credit either to the ancient or modern Jews, as actually born again by the rite of circumcision ? The Jews did indeed think that all the circumcised among them would be saved ; but it was on other grounds : it was from an idea that, as children of Abraham, they could not perish, being all of necessity interested in the covenant made with him and his seed : but never, as far as we know, did they so confound the sign with the thing signified, as to imagine, that they were of necessity made new creatures by the operation of God upon their souls, at the time that man performed a painful operation on their bodies.
But let us also examine the two opinions in refer- ence to their practical efficacy. What is the tendency
i John i. 13.