THE ANABAPTIST Waſht and waſht, and ſhrunk in the waſhing: Or, a Scholaſticall Diſcuſsion of the much-agitated Controverſie concerning Infant-Baptiſm; Occaſioned by a Publike Diſputation, Before a great Aſſembly of Miniſters, and other Perſons of worth, in the Church of Newport-Pagnell, Betwixt Mr Gibs Miniſter there, and the Author, Rich. Carpenter, Independent. Wherin alſo, the Author occaſionally, declares his Judgement concerning the Papiſts; And afterwards, concerning Epiſcopacy.
God is my Record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jeſus Chriſt.
Dolco, Fratres, vobiſcum: cum ſingulis copulo Pectus meum: cum jacent•bas jacere me credo; cum proſtratis Fratribus & me proſtravit Affectus.
Brethren, I grieve with you: with every one of you I cloſely joyne and couple my Breaſt: with ſuch as lye on the Ground as if they were dead, I fancy my ſelfe to lye on the Ground as if I were dead; and with my proſtrated Brethren, my Affection hath proſtrated me.
London, Printed by William Hunt.
I Know not any Man, but agreeably to Rule, and by his Fruits, I know not, thatSee Mat. 7. 16. all Ieſuits are Lion-mouth'd in the Picture-Senſe: Nor that all Presbyterians are tongu'd like the Dragon: Nor that all Anabaptiſts vomit fire.
I rather beleeve, that the Lion-mouth'd Ieſuit is the Pragmatical Ieſuit, deſcended from the roaring Lion in St Peter; who gives devouring and murderous Counſill, and ſeekingly1 Pet. 5. 8. contrives the temporall deſtruction of his Oppoſers: And that many Presbyterians have peaceable Natures, and are not infernall-Dragon-tongu'd; but are inconſiderately engaged by the ſimple and unballanced Apprehenſion of Morall Circumspection in ſuch Perſons: Yea, that many Anabaptiſts are temperate-hearted and mouth'd, and have not the Tongue that ſetteth on fire the courſe of Nature, and is ſet on fire of Hell: but haveJames 3. 6. been wrought into this Adheſion by the violent and unequall Propoſition of irregular Doctrines.
Iudicium ad Sapientiam pertinet, ſaith Aquinas: Right Iudgment is an Act of Wisdome,D. Tho. p. 1. q. 1. art. 6. ad. 3. Mat. 7. 1. Wherefore: Iudge not; that is, not raſhly, but wiſely, and according to pious Knowledg; that ye be not judged.
The End of the fifth Objection in the Advertiſement, reflects more Light upon this Place.
I Am preſt once more to appeare in Engliſh, againſt thought, and wide of deſire. Becauſe the Perſons, generally concerned in this Diſcourſe, notwithſtanding their high looks, and more than manly words, cannot look ſo high as Latine, which they call the Language of the Beaſt.
The leading occaſion in the turning Point, was; I was called inwardly, and outwardly recalled, agreeably to the mixture and even Compoſition of my firſt and fundamentall Calling; to preach in the Church of Newport-Pagnell, before a very numerous Auditory, congealed and conſiſting of the more ſolid and ſapid part of Town and Country: And after the Sermon, baptized a Child, orderly preſented in the Church. In the ſober performance of which Myſterious Work, rhe Miniſter, unſetled in place, and (it ſeems) in perſon, profeſſing for Anabaptiſm, and ſuddenly rapted with a vertiginous Motion, interrupted me. And preſently ſummoned me by a Challenge, in the face of the Congregation, to give him and his Brethren of the Separation a meeting there in publick; after his twelve-days preparation, being the long Paraſceve to his intended and preſumed victory.
The ſequell I beſeech you to enquire from others. Only, pray, take this from me, pledge-wiſe. Delrio in his Magicall Diſquiſitions,Delrio li. 2. Diſquiſ. Magic. quaeſt. 25. teaches, that ſometimes by the ſecret, energeticall and unſeen operation of the Devill, and againe ſometimes by the ſeen, effectuall and apparent violence of a Diſeaſe, men are ecſtatically rapted, and alienated from their Senſes. Who likewiſe refutes, firſt, Cardanus affirming that men may be rapted and ſet out of themſelves by a naturall Commotion of Spirit, and at their pleaſure: And afterwards Bodinus aſſerting that in a Rapture the Soule actually deſerts the Body for a time. And indeed, the Soule of this Miniſter I beheld in the wildfire of his eyes: wherein alſo, I ſaw ſome ſtrange and occult Thing beyond a Diſeaſe, beyond Man, and beyond God's way of working.
This heady Enthuſiaſt, being now in his own Head, the Head of the Univerſe, was inſooth ſometimes a Member of the Ʋniverſity, (for the which he did evaporate his griefe, and cry out in the pangs of his inward remorſement before the Country) and had been ſomewhat vexatious to the Proteſtant Miniſters in the Circle about him. His Friends and Allies fixed all their eyes, with all their lies, upon him as the Carry Castle, or Behemoth of the Country: (theSee Job 40. Vide Buſ•amantinum de Animantibus ſacra Scripturae, lib. 4. cap. 12. de Behemoth. word is Hebrew-born, and fetched from Behema, a Beaſt.) I was born there; and born thither by a charitable deſire of conſociating and conſorting with my Friends. He gave the firſt onſet in a mad mood, being a Figure of his after-carriage; and would needs be Syllogizing in Mood and Figure. The marrowy part of our Diſputation, with the bones; and of Sermons preached afterwards by him and by me, I here humbly, deare Chriſtians, offer to you.
It agrees on each ſide with the Anabaptiſts: They haveOſee 8. 7. Sept. ſowne the wind, and they ſhall reap the whirlewind: or, as the Septuagint: They have ſowne〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ſeeds corrupted with the wind, and having no marrow, which the Grecians call〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ſaith Saint Hierom: And therefore, havingS. Hierom. in Oſ. 8. 7. ſowne empty and vaine ſeeds, they ſhall accordingly reape vaine and empty Fruit; and ſhall be long-whirled about, as in a whirlewind, with every wind of Doctrine, blowing duſt into their Eyes, and ſtriking them, as the Angels did the Sodomites,Sept. in Gen. 19. 11.〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that they ſhall ſee all things but the Doore.
Yet, here is not all; For, The Lord anſwered Job out of theJob 38. 1. Whirlewind. And St GregoryS Greg. ib. moralizes the Reaſon: Quia flagellato loquebatur; becauſe he ſpake to one that was actually under the laſh. And, I hope that God, enthroned upon a whirlewind, will change the Subject, and raiſe his Inſtruments and Servants to anſwer theſe wild-conceited people, and laſh them into ſome right uſe of their underſtanding and ſenſes again.
I am a true Proteſtant in my own ſenſe, and perhaps in yours. And I utterly deny, and heartily renounce, that I am a Papiſt in the Senſe of the common Sectaries and others of the ſpeckled Rout and miſcellaneous Rabble, who call me ſo. I never was an Anabaptiſt, or had a Congregation heaving that way, God Almighty knows, and the world can teſtifie: though now after our Diſputation, and the ſucceſs of it, the adverſe Party hath moſt unworthily ſtarted this inſipid Scandall of me, and as impudently defends it.
Theſe are they who leave altogether Viam Regiam, the Princely way of Truth, and turne aſide to lies: Or, accordingPſal. 40. 4. li ▪ dit. vulgat to the Vulgar, inſanias falſas, falſe madneſſes: Or, in the words of the Septuagint,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, lyingSept. madneſſes: Or, acceptably to the Hebrew ſtamp, impreſſed by St Hierom, Pompam mendacii, theS. Hier. in Pſal. 40. worldly Pomp of a lye. Theſe, although they ſhould be in Eccleſia, in the Church, yet could not be de Eccleſia, of the Church; neither could they pertinere ad Regnum, pertaine to the Kingdom. For without are dogs, (perſonsApoc. 22. 15 barking, and biting, and tearing as they go,) and ſorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoſoever loveth and maketh a lye.
The Doctrine of Aquinas,D. Tho. 1. 2. q. 18. art. 2. & Interpretes ibi. and of the Schooles, is true: Humane Acts do take their Species or kinds, from their Objects: and if the Object be good, the Act is good: If the Object evill, the Act evill; in ſuch a kind of Vertue or Vice wherein the Object is placed, or to which it is drawn or perverted. Becauſe the Object being loved and efficaciouſly deſired by the will, is alwaies in the matter pulled home to it, and ſo refunds its goodneſſe or badneſſe upon it. Therefore the will which loveth and maketh a lye, and by loving it is habituated to it; is habitually evill in that kind.
Standing upon this firme Ground, St Auſtine preacheth:S. Aug. ep. 52. ad Macidonium. Non faciunt bonos vel malos mores niſi boni vel mali amores: Good or evill Love makes good or evill Manners. And againe, Talis eſtIdem Tract. 2. in ep. 3. Joann•. quiſque, qualis eſt ejus dilectio: Every one is ſuch as his Love is: Love being the firſt, and the Queen of Paſſions in the Soule, and the reſt all ſervants, and of the Traine. In truth, and ſans lying: It appeares to me, that if Archimides were alive, he would ſooner undertake to number the ſands of the Sea than to ſum up the Lies of ſuch lovers and makers of Lies.
I have been rather a conſtant and ſedulous Oppoſer of Anabaptiſts, being actuated thereuntoS. Bern. lib. 4. de Confid. ad Eugen. Pontiſ. Similia habet ▪ Serm. 34, in Cantica. by the grievous complaint of St Bernard: Cadit Aſina, & eſt qui ſublevet eam: perit Anima, & nemo eſt qui reputet; A ſhe-Aſſe falls, and the Owner preſently runs and lifts her up: A Soule periſhes, and there is no man who conſiders as he ought to conſider, how pretious a Iewell a Soule is, or, what is loſt when a ſoule is loſt.
As firſt, in their firſt holding up their head, I oppoſed them and all their Tub-men, by publike Diſputation at Wapping: Where I extorted from the Miniſter of the place, by the rack of Argument, that his Congregation was the Synagogue of Satan; who thereupon was defeated, and fairely driven to the quick uſe of his Heeles, by his own Congregation: and ran, as if Satan himſelfe had been at his heels. And afterwards at Doctor Chamberlain's houſe, and in the faire and amiable preſence of his Fairy-Congregation, where I devoutly heard from him a long Diſcourſe, comparing (while his young ſhe-Diſciples encircled him in cluſters) natuturall generation with Regeneration; and being, in proper Language, a learned Lecture of Man-Midwifry: And where afterwards, going up to the mouth of him, I tore from his lips, that we might baptize Children, did they not ſhew reſiſtance: and the reſiſtance wherewith he defended himſelfe in the puſh of Argument, is: Children uſually cry, in the ſprinkling of the water on their Faces. Whereupon I replied, that, by the ſame Reaſon, Children newly-borne, and feeling the cold Aire, and crying, ſhould not, after ſuch reſiſtance, be continued and entertained amongſt us, but ſpeedily returned into their mothers wombs. And there I left him, ready to do his Office, but not able to ſay a word for himſelfe, or make any reſiſtance. So that the pious Obſervation which holy St Auſtin uſedS. Aug. lib. 1. de Peccator. meriti•& remiſſione, cap. 23. for the magnifying of the Mercy of God in his Ordinance, and for the commendation of the charity of Chriſtians in adminiſtring it: Flendo & vagiendo cùm in eis Mysterium celebratur, ipſis myſticis vocibus obſtrepunt: Infants by crying when the Myſtery is rightly celebrated upon them, noiſe it againſt the myſticall words: Our womans-Doctor ſeriouſly abuſed and turned againſt God's bleſſed Ordinance, and the charitable and righteous adminiſtration of it. What Chriſtian emolument came of the good which I wrought at the Spittle, by tormenting the Anabaptiſts there, (thoſe petty Chapmen and Pedlers of Divinity,) and by ſtopping their Peſtiducts; let the judicious Hearers (for, ſuch there were of my Companions in every meeting,) judge.
And now, with what ſtrange and powerfull water, theſe men have waſhed their Foreheads, or, how they have hardened them, I know not; as being altogether ignorant of this their myſterious Trade. Yet, I beleeve HieronymusHier. Cardan. lib. 6. de Subtilit. Cardanus, in his report, that he ſaw a man at Millan, (being an Italian City,) who waſhed his face and hands with ſcalding lead, as careleſly and as confidently, as a man waſheth his hands and face with ordinary water: but he had firſt waſhed them with an extraordinary, new-ſound and hardening water of his own.
I forget. As the Phyſitian deſcribes the Diſeaſe, ſo he preſcribes the Cure. Theſe muſt be cured in their Hearts, and Roots: In their Actions, and Lives. Men have learned the way of changing bitter Almond Trees into ſweet-ones: which is, they pierce them neere to the Root, and let forth the bitter juyce: So theſe bitter-hearted men and women, ſhould let their perverſe and ſower Inclinations forth, at the Root of their Hearts; and become of bitter, better. And the Phyſitians, that they may draw the vapours from the Head of the Patient, apply Pigeons to the ſoles of his Feet. If theſe black Saints would walke innocently, and with Pigeons at their feet, they ſhould not be troubled with ſuch groſſe and idle fumes in their Braines.
If they will not: The Palm-Tree, being, in ſome ſenſe, the Phenix of Plants, will grow ſtrait and tall, and ſhew freſh, and have ſweet branches; howſoever at the Foot thereof outwardly, there may be Troups of unpleaſant Frogs, of poyſonous Toads, and of ugly Serpents, crying, and croaking, and hiſſing, and making a mixt noiſe that brings horrour to the Hearer. Let them ſet before their eyes, a late wofull and wonderfull Tranſaction in the ſame Country: containing a moſt remarkable Act of Gods Juſtice, in the ſtripping of one, and laying him naked in open view, who had attempted, many a time, to commit a Rape upon my good Name: Being ſuch a notable Trophy of divine Advertiſement, that, I beleeve, it will be tranſmitted by Tongue and by Pen, from Age to Age, untill the World be ſo aged, that the Pen ſhall no more aſſiſt the Tongue, or the Tongue need the Pen's aſſiſtance: and that in the reading and hearing therof, the moſt petrified hearts in the laſt Age of the World, ſhall be diſſolved.
I deſire in the feare of God, that they would abject, abdicate, and abrenunciate theſe their unjuſt and abject Criminations, being the vulgar ſupports of a weake and tottering Cauſe: and object what ariſeth è Re natâ, from the Thing in queſtion, and ex viſceribus Rei, from the bowels of the matter in hand; according to the juſt latitude and Oeconomy of Conſcience-Freedome; if ſuch a thing there be.
I trample not upon any mans weakneſſe. I have long ago learned from St Auſtine: NullumS. Aug. lib. 50. Homil. Hom. 23. Tom. 10. eſt peccatum quod fecit homo, quod non poſsit facere alter homo, ſi deſit Rector à quo factus eſt Homo. No Sin hath been committed by any Man, which another man in being, may not commit, if the Governour be wanting, of whom man had his firſt Commiſsion to be.
May their ſins be deſtroyed in them, and not they deſtroyed in their ſins: compliably with the tropologicall Expoſition of Gaudentius: Adhuc triduum, &S Gaudent Tract. 3. ad Neophytos. Ninive evertetur: Verum praedixit, nam everſa eſt Iniquitas ejus, quia poenituit. Yet three daies,Jon. 3. 4. and Niniveh ſhall be overthrown: He foretold the Truth: for, the Iniquity of Niniveh was overthrown, becauſe ſhe repented. (Note: The Septuagint, followedSept. Orig. S. Chryſoſt Arab. Alex. Codex Heb. Paraphr. Chlad. Aq. Sym. Theod. by Origen, St Cryſoſtome, and other Grecians, with the Alexandrian Arabick, propoſe yet three daies: But the Hebrew, and Chaldee, with Aquila Symmachus, and Theodotion, maintaine, yet forty daies.)
My only Worke is; if my Heart were ſeen by all Men, as God ſees it, in the Originall: whatſoever their magnifying and multiplying Glaſſes tell them that have devota ig ni Capita, Heads devoted to Fire and Sedition; and who themſelves, like Badgers, run beſt in crooked paths. I have lived beyond the Seas, and have ſeen much of Heaven in the Church of Rome; and therefore, I have reaſon from Heaven, to be more prying into the matters of my Faith than every home-ſpun man; and to be of a more delicate touch, in the preſentation of new Matters. And although I ſhall never open my ſelfe ſo wide, as to ſwallow many things done and accepted in that Church; which this Diſcourſe will ſet in view and upon a Hill: yet cenſure me gently, deare Chriſtians, if theſe Engliſh Overtures of Hereſie, every day, turning over a new leafe, have ſometimes brought my Heart into a kind of Earthquake, and rendered me wiſhing that I could ſee the Church of Rome in her mutatis mutandis, beſt holiday Garments. The very ſame I now wiſh: though verily, I am now very much angry with ſome Papiſts, upon particular, and thoſe reaſonable Conſiderations.
Therefore: As one foot of the Compaſſe ſtandeth faſt in the Point, or Center, whileſt the other walkes the round; ſo howſoever the World moves, or my Body is moved, my Soule ſhall now ſtand faſt, and direct all that I have ſeen in the World, to the making of a Circle, the moſt perfect of all Figures, as being without ruptures, without angles, without end.
Alexander ab Alexandr•hathAlex. ab Alex. lib. 2. cap. 19. Chronicled a Generation of people, that were borne having the print of an Anchor on one thigh; yet gives them not the credit of ſticking to an Anchor: But I now feele the print of Gods Anchor-Signet upon my Soule, by the which he hath ſigned me for a ſtaid Man. And here will I ſtay: deſiring you to read attentively, patiently, and with understanding.
This in the Farewell. After the Diſputation at Newport, an illiterate, ſapleſſe, and obſcure Townſman of Alubury, did ſubobſcurely challenge me to buffet with him in the like Diſputation. And I preſently formed the Latine Epiſtle which followeth, being obſcure to him, as perpendicular to my purpoſe, that I might fall ſharply upon, reject for contemptible, and confound his blind preſumption of oppoſing Scholars. For, the abilities of Diſputants muſt alwaies be congenerous with the Matter diſputed, and the various annexes of it. And therefore I will never anſwer as a Diſputant, by word or by writing, if the Adverſary be Sterquilinii Filius, a Son of the Dunghill, and not able to fill the ſtomack of the learned Reader and Hearer.
QUae nune denuò te prorſùs agunt, Intemperiae dicam an exagitant Furiae? Num tantos, miſelle Puſio, velut afflatos ex nupero turbine, ſumpfiſti tibi Spiritus, ut me putidis tuis illis, ac penitùs ambeſis, & quaſi vili Murium operâ corroſis, ullatenùs circumſcribi poſſe putes Cancellis? Abſit à viro vero largaeque Mentis, hujuſmodi falſa pariter & curta Cogitatio.
Profecto, mihi vel Jure debetur literario, ut liberè liceat, cùm libuerit, expatiari per Campos illos noſtros Elyſios; nempè Latinos, Graecos, Hebraicos: Quinimo per Labyrinthos apprimè nobiles, Artium ſecretarum ſacrarumque, ducente filo, divagart. Idquo ipſa poſtulat, acclamante Rerum Naturâ, ſi penitiùs introſpicias, Cauſae Theologicae divina ſanè Majeſtas; imò quidem, & Gravit as planè mystica. An non confeſtim, Rebus eò redactis & calentibus, cancellatas dabunt manus, & nuda terga Lictoribus offerent, iſti ſingulares trium Literarum Homunciones?
Agedum: Produc in Solem pulverémque〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉illum; nimirùm quem veneranda nobilitavit Academia, ſacer (ut aiunt) ordo conſecravit. Et cura diligentèr, ut is, quèm ſcilicèt in certamen poſco, rebus tranſactis, evadat alter (iudulgeas〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉referenti vocabulo veniam) Bar-Ghibbhor.
Quod ad te attinet, Editionis imperfectae Homunculum, & verè〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉Philoſophicum, (quamvis & Corio tectum Jordane pleniùs intincto,) me jam denique ad Congreſſus Logicos acritèr provocantem; ſic animum induxi: Coeleſtis Aquila non exuit alas, quibus evecta, cum fulminibus colluctatur; non inter vermes impuros, & ipſa turpis ore ſordido, repit.
Quinetiam lino protinùs ligandus eſt ▪ & ipſe ſuis omnino lacerandus virgis, qui Rationum gravioribus hiſce Momentis à me ſtantibus, licèt alienis à re tua & aliorsùm vellicantibus, ultrò non acquieſcat, ſubmitt átque lubentèr vela.
I nunc, ut conſulas Interpretes ex Miniſtrorum Collegio, quod pro nihilo habes.
ANd when we have done all, we muſt all dye. Yea: Howſoever we are parted in the lines of Life, we muſt all meet in the Point of Death, as in a full point. Death! What is Death? Heatheniſh Plato deſcribes it with a DivinePlato in Phaedone. and Chriſtian Character. 〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: Death is the diſſolution of the Soule and Body. And the Latine Orator lookes with a full eye upon the Platonists, when he ſaith: Sunt qui DiſceſſumCicero Tuſc. Qu•ſt lib. 1. Animae à Corpore putent eſſe Mortem: There are who think Death to2 be a Departure of the Soule from the Body.
What theſe thought, and was to them a matter of Opinion, which is Aſſenſus pendulus, a wavering aſſent: is to us Materia Fidei, a Matter of Faith, which is Aſſenſus immobilis, a firme and immoveable Aſſent to the revealed Truth of God.
Saint Paul was the Inſtrument of Revelation, and hath ſettled it: firſt, as having a deſire to depart: diſſolvi,Philip. 1. 23 Interp. vulgat. Tixt. Graec. 2 Tim. 4. 6. Edit. vulg. Cod••Gr••c ſaies the Vulgar: and the Originall,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to be diſſolved: (when he was in bivio, in a way betwixt two waies:) And ſecondly; as prophecying, the time of my departure is at hand. The Vulgar: Tempus reſolutionis meae. It is O' 〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the Original: the time or opportunity of my Reſolution or Diſſolution,
The Philoſophicall Reaſon is: (this being alſo a Philoſophicall Truth, and there being Philoſophicall Reaſons of all Divine Truths which are not myſterious, miraculous, or meerly depending upon Divine Pleaſure.) As Life reſults from the Union; So, by the Logicall Rule of Contraries, (it is3 the ſame caſe with proportion in privatives,) Death, from the Diſunion of Soule and Body. The Rule is: Contrariorum contraria eſt Ratio, The Courſe of Contraries is contrary.
And Death, as the Lion, woundsFra•zius in Leone. not a part, or member only, but divides and rends in peeces the whole ſubſtance; and ſubverts the Being cauſed by the Compoſition of eſſentiall Parts.
ANd when we have done all, we must all dye: muſt be diſſolved. And then, whither the Parts diſſolved ▪ our Soules and Bodies (ours in particular) ſhall go, (the Devill ſittingSee Jer. 3. 2 S. Hieron. lb. for us by the way, as the Arabian in the wilderneſſe, for the Paſſengers; or, according to St Hierom, ut Latro, as a Robber; the Arabians being mighty Robbers and Hunters of Men in the Wilderneſſe;) and how they ſhall fare, reſolve it fairely and poſitively he that can.
Two States are aſſigned to every Soule: The State of Conjunction4 with the Body, and the State of Separation from it. Of the firſt, we have long triall: Of the ſecond, we never yet had any. No living Man or Woman knows experimentally, what is the departure of a Soule from a Body: or, what Subſiſtance, Adherence, Condition, Companions, Relations a Soule hath in the State of Separation.
Now, me thinkes, He and She that may, this very night, be turned over, by Diſſolution, to this wonderfull, unknown, and unfathomed State of Separation; ſhould be very carefull what they beleeve, and how they live: Eſpecially, the Life of Man being a very Bubble. A Bubble puts on the forme of an Hemiſphere: And ſhadowing halfe the World, as being an Hemiſphere; it accordingly conſiſts of two Elements. It is Aire within, which is inviſible for its Rarity; and without, a thin-ſhapt skin of water: and there is all the Bubble. The Aire deciphers our Soule; and the watery skin, our Body; in this preſent World. The skin preſently breakes: the Aire as preſently breakes looſe: and there is a5 preſent end of the Bubble: and we are as preſently delivered up to another World.
O Lord, open thou my Lips, andPſa. 51. 15. my mouth ſhall ſhew forth thy praiſe: And whatſoever others beleeve, or do, or teach to be done and believed; I will not recede from thy known Truth. Even the Sea-Monſters (or,Lam. 4. 3. Sea-Calves driven with every Surge of the Sea) draw out the Breaſt: The Vulgar; Sed & Lamiae nudaveruntEdit. vulg. mammam, But even the Witches (or, Fairy-Ladies and ranting Night-Dancers) have laid the breaſt forth naked: The Septuagint,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,Sept. Sym. the Dragons: Symmachus,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the Sirens: they give ſuck to their young-ones. But they ſhall not ſuckle me.
ONce more here let me ſymphonize with the Spirit of David. I ſaid, ſaith he, and I ſay with him;Pſal. 39 1. I will take heed to my waies, that I ſin not with my Tongue. I will take heed to my waies, that I ſpeake not, (write not,) prompted by Prejudice,6 Cuſtome, or Carnall Affection.
But I may not ſhut the Book after the reading of this Text, as the good old Saint in the Lives of theVitae Patrum. Idem exemplum habetur apud Theodoretum in Hiſtor. Tripart lib. 8. cap. 1. Et adducitur à M. Marulo l. 4. cap. 6. Fathers, that having〈◊〉Bible given into his hands, and letting his eye firſt fall and ſettle upon theſe words, returned the Book ſhut, and cried, Sat eſt quod didici, I have learned enough for the preſent, I will firſt ▪ endeavour to digeſt this divine Leſſon.
Holy Scripture muſt lye open, and enthroned, when holy matters are in debating; according to the ſober Cuſtome of ancient Councils: The Word of God being the moſt authenticall High-Place, from whence, in our wants, and at pleaſure, we may looke into Heaven, and into the first and Originall will of God: and God having dealt otherwiſe with us, than Adrian the EmperourNiceph. Eccl. Hiſ•. lib. 3. c. 24. with the rebellious Jewes; who baniſhed them from their own Country, and commanded that they ſhould not look back ▪ upon it from an high Place.
The Scripture, as the Logicia•s teach de Terminis Co•notativi•▪ ſignifies7 in recto all that which is materiall in it, being the things themſelves, or the faire and fragrant Poſie of the Truths revealed: and in obliquo ſignifies that which is formall in it, being the manner of Propoſition, or the Tradition of theſe Truths by Writing. Wherefore, although Scripture-Truths be divine Truths, and made legible; yet if they be not rightly preached, interpreted, propoſed, received, they will not be true to us, and written in our Hearts.
The Divines queſtion, How light could be created by it ſelfe, according to the narration of Scripture: Becauſe there ſeemes then to have been Accidens (cujus eſſe eſt ineſſe) ſine ſubjecto, An Accident (the radicall being wherof is to be in a Subject) without a Subject: and the narration likewiſe pretends, as if Colour could otherwiſe be than in a Thing or Subſtance coloured. But Aquinas makes it luce lucidius, clearer thanD. Tho. part. 1. quaeſt. 7•▪ art. 1. ad•. the light. Primâ die facta est natura lucis in aliquo ſubjecto: ſed quarto die dicuntur facta Luminaria; non qui••orum ſubſtantia ſit de novo producta,8 ſed quia ſunt aliquo modo formata quo priùs non erant. The nature of Light was made in ſome Subject, even upon the firſt day: but upon the fourth day the Luminaries or great Lights are ſaid to be made; not becauſe their Substance was now newly produced, but becauſe they were formed in ſome manner, in the which they were not formerly formed. My Application is. The Light of the firſt day, in a Spirituall ſenſe, is the Word of God, as comming from God to his Church: and the great Lights of the fourth day, are the ſame Word rightly propoſed by the Church, and received into fit and gracious Subjects. More of this afterwards.
TO preſſe nearer. The Mathematicall Axiom, Suprēum infimi tangit infimum ſupremi, The higheſt part of the lower thing touches the loweſt part of the higher thing; inſinuates a Concatenation of Things, and of Cauſes. And that this Concatenation may be ſecurely ſupported in every linke: God the firſt cauſe9 (though moſt united in Himſelfe) is in all ſecond Cauſes, and in all created things, per Eſſentiam, per Praeſentiam, per Potentiam; by his Eſſence, by his Preſence, by his Power. With reflexion upon which Power, it is revealed of him; Attingit à fine…que ad finem fortiter, He touches from one end of the Creatures to the other, ſtrongly.
And he doth not uphold or touch his higheſt and loweſt Creatures, as deſerting or over-paſſing the reſt couched betwixt them. For, De extremo ad extremum non eſt tranſitus niſi per media: The ordinary tranſition (yea, of the Creator attemperating himſelfe to the Creature) from one extreme to the other, is by middle things: as the Paſſage ab Initiativo puncto ad punctum Terminativum, from the Initiative to the Terminative Point, is by the Line, being the Flux of the firſt Point. Therefore, as the bloud continually reſorts to the Heart in a Circle, from all parts of the body: So the Conſervation or continued Creation and being of all things is from him, from whom is their firſt being and Creation.
8〈1 page duplicate〉9〈1 page duplicate〉10Hence we pronounce ex Cathedra, from the Chaire in the Schoole of Divinity: Providentia, vel infima tangit: Divine Providence toucheth all things, and even the laſt, leaſt, and loweſt of them. And again, Praedeſtinatio eſt pars nobiliſſima Providentiae, Predeſtination is the moſt noble part of Divine Providence. And hence, it being a queſtion amongſt Schoole-Divines,Scholaſtici in tertiam partem D. Thomae. Utrùm viſibilis detur Effectus divinae Praedeſtinationis in Infantibus baptizatis; Whether or no there be any viſible effect of divine Predeſtination in baptized Infants: The common anſwer is affirmative, concerning Infants dying after Baptiſme, and before they have actually tranſgreſſed.
But the weake and fallible Authority of Schoole-Divines in it ſelfe, is not my〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or the Touchſtone wherewith I touch and try queſtioned Mettals. Man did eate Angels food: The Vulgar: PanemPſa. 78 25. Interp. vulgat. Text. Hebr. Angelorum manducavit homo, Man hath eaten the Bread of Angels. The Originall word rendred Angels, is Abbirim, of the ſtrong: Angels being ſo called, becauſe they are of ſuperexcellent11 ſtrength.
I have read in Materia de Angelis: One Angel teacheth another Angel; or, a Superiour Angel, having received in his Creation, more univerſall Species, teacheth an inferiour Angel, by willing only, that he ſhould know his mind; (quae volitio adimit impedimentum Secreti, & movet Deum ad imprimendam ſpeciem talis Objecti alteri Angelo:) But it fals otherwiſe, in the Meſſenger, or Angel of the Lord of Hoſts, deſigned by Malachi;Mal. 2. 7. who teaches men by adminiſtring to them the Bread of the ſtrong.
The Angel of the Church, as propoſing this Propoſition-bread, or, theſe〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Leaves of bread ſet inSept. ſight, being the bread of the ſtrong; hath ſtrongly taught and maintained in the face of all Ages, the baptizing of Infants: And whoſoever hath obſtinately ſet his face againſt it, hath been alwaies eſteemed reſpectively〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, heterogeneous and heterodox; by the ſaid Angel or Angels. And to the Judgement of theſe Angels in their Interpretations of Scripture, being the Will and Teſtament of the Lord of12 Hoſts ▪ from whom they come as Delegates and Embaſſadours; I ſhall ſtrongly ſtand; and ſeek the Law at their month.
LEt all Chriſtian Fathers and Mothers take their little Children into their Armes; and having firſt kiſſed them, let them with a placid eye looke upon them, and meditate over them. If they be not plane〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, plainly void and emptied of all naturall Affection; they will moſt plainly diſcover, that there are two things excellently conſpicuous in Babes: which are, Innocency, and Impotency. By the firſt, they are altogether incapable of hurting others: by the ſecond, as inſufficient for helping themſelves.
In conſideration of the firſt: It ſeldome fals out, even in the moſt bloudy wars, as Vegetius obſerves,Veget. de re militari, lib. 3. that old men, old women, young maids, and little Children are not ſpared. And in examination of the ſecond; St Auſtin piouſly exhorts:St Aug. ad Hilar. ep. 89 Tanto magis pro Infantibus loqui debemus,13 quanto minùs ipſi pro ſe loqui poſſunt. We ought ſo much the more to ſpeake for Infants, how much the leſſe they be able to ſpeake for themſelves.
Poore Things; they ſay nothing: But they are Dove-eyed, as the pretty one in the Canticles: and theyCant. 1. 15. beg aloud, and plead prettily for themſelves, with the dumbe and ſilent Oratory of their ſweet and innocent looks; being apt emiſſions and ſcintillations of their inward prettineſſe. Wo may compare them to a ſmall kind of Lights or Lamps, compoſed of ſweet matter, which are both ſhining and odoriferous. Certainely, God is graciouſly propitious to them in their kind, and in every kind agreeable to them; towards whom he hath imprinted in us, and even in barbarous People, a moſt merciful inclination of Nature; ſeconded with a viſcerall commiſeration of all their ſufferings, above all ordinary courſe.
I am too narrow. God hath enforced the very Tumult and outrage of the Sea, to acknowledge the baptized Infant: It being ſtoried by14 Oſorius concerning Albuquerqnez,Oſor. de Rebus geſtis Emmanue•is, Portugalliae Regis, lib. 1. Admirall of the Portugall Fleet for the Conqueſt of the Eaſt Indies; that, being ſurprized by a moſt horrible Tempeſt, which gave ſudden occaſion to a woman in the ſame ſhip with him, to be delivered of a tender Babe, preſently baptized by reaſon of the preſent danger; he fell upon his knees preſently, preſently took the new-borne, now-borne, twice-borne Child in his hands, and held him towards Heaven, whileſt he ſacrificed his Prayer to God in this humble manner: Averte, Domine, facie•uam à peccatis meis, &c. Lord turne away the Face of thy Juſtice from my ſins, and from the ſins of the People with me: And though we have all deſerved thine Anger yet in thy Child Jeſus, ſpare us, by ſparing this innocent Babe with us, that never ſinned againſt thee, and is now received by thine Ordinance into thy Favour. Which Prayer being ended the Tempeſt ended, and the Sea became as harmeleſſe as the Child, and as calme as the water wherein the pretty Babe was baptized.
We grown Perſons are like Lampreys:15 we have all ſome ſtrong ſtring or other of poyſonous actuall…ination in us, but Babes have not: (〈◊〉therefore, Men are exhorted,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, wax ye, or be ye1 Cor. 14. 20. children in evill, or malice:) eſpecially, baptized Babes, tranſlated to a new, and heavenly condition; and in whom is preſented a moſt pleaſant part of Muſicke, even that wherein the falling from a ſhort Diſcord to a ſweet Concord, cauſeth more than ordinary ſweetneſſe.
THe holy Doctrine of Infant-Baptiſme, hath been ſoyl'd much, and polluted. How may it be reduced and recall'd to its Native Purity? The Naturaliſts have foundAlbertus lib. de Gemmis. by curious Inquiſition ▪ That if a Pearle which is foule, be ſwallowed into the wombe of a Dove, and remaine there ſome while, the Dove will give it againe moſt pure and Or••ut. So every Doctrine muſt be tryed and examined in the wombe of the Scripture-Dove the Holy Ghoſt, which wombe is the Word of16 God, propoſed and interpreted by the Church of God: And if the Doctrine be Pearle-proofe, the Holy Ghoſt will quickly return it as ſuch, and free it from ſpots, clouds, deformity.
For the Church may well be ſubſervient to the Scripture, and the Scripture auxiliary to the Church, in diverſo Genere Cauſae, puta Exemplaris, & inſtrumentalitèr effectivae: Neither do the Logicians eliminate ſuch Circles, or Circulations of Arguments; nor do ſuch make us giddy.
Prophetae, ſaith St Hierom, appellabanturSt Hieron: ep. ad Paulinum, de ſacra Scriptura. videntes: quia videbant cum quem caeteri non videbant: The Prophets were called Se•rs: becauſe they ſaw (Dono Prophetiae, by the gift of Prophecy, which gave them to foreſee, and underſtandingly to declare their foreſight; their Prediction including Previſion, quia praedicebant ex Praeviſione; in the which, they differed from the Sibyls, who neither foreſaw the things they Propheſied, nor perfectly underſtood their own Declarations,) Chriſt, whom the common17 Herd ſaw not. The Prophets and Apoſtles in their Holy Writings, and the Church interpreting them, diſcover Supernaturall Truths to us, which we know not by other meanes: and their Teſtimonies are irreſiſtible.
The Chymiſts and AlchumiſtsChymiſtae. Alchymiſtae. are agreed, that the moſt tried way of effecting the ſtrange Tranſmutations of bodies, in Oyles, Plants, Minerals, is to endeavour, and urge preſſingly by all means the reducing of them to their old Nothing. The Scripture-Texts for Infant-Baptiſm, are ſo ſubſtantiall, and ſolid, that, rather than they ſhall prove nothing for it, they take ſtrange and many ſhapes, every ſhape ſhaping a proofe.
It is a ſecret of ſecrets in Sounds: That the whole Sound is not in the whole Aire only, but alſo in every minute Part of the Aire; otherwiſe, one and the ſame Sound could not beat upon many eares, and come with all the differences of it in ſuch diverſities of convenient Diſtance and Place. True it is of the Apoſtles: Their line is gone out thorough all the18 Earth, and their words to the end ofPſal. 19. 4. the World ▪ as the Hebrew: or, as theText. Hebr. Sept. Lectio Vulgat. Septuagint,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ſenſed by the Vulgar, In omnem terram exivit ſonus corum, their ſound is gone forth into all the earth; and ſtrictly followed by St Paul, and the Arabicks:Rom. 10. 18. Arab. Alex. Arab. Antioch. Interpretes Syr. or as both the Syriack Interpreters, Evangelium, vel Annuciatio corum, Their Goſpell or Annunciation is gone forth: All theſe running after the Septuagint, in the neere Path of the Senſe; not with the Hebrew, in the Road of the Letter.
May the Evangelicall ſound of the Apoſtles in this matter, reach even to the end of the World, and come wholly to every mans and womans eares thorough all the earth.
The Great Wheele in the Worke, after which, and impelled by which, all others move; and the turning of which ▪ as the firſt movable, ſhall be my care; is, to prove, that the words of Chriſt, Except a man beJoh. 3. 5. borne of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God; preach Baptiſm.
SOme of the blockiſh and more earthy kind, ſeeme to be ſcrupled and ſcandalized, that I have ſometimes reformed a Text in the Engliſh Tranſlation of the Bible, by retriving it in the Original. Which notwithſtanding, ought to be faithfully done by a faithfull Teacher, for many Reaſons: one whereof, I ſhall here indigitate. Becauſe the Engliſh Tranſlation is now and then ſo large, profuſe, redundant, and running over, and ſo ſpreading it ſelfe beyond the modeſt limits of the Original, that it opens a way and window for an Adverſary of Truth, which the Originall ſhutteth up and blocketh againſt him. As here: The Engliſh Tranſlation gives, Except a man be borne, &c. And the Adverſary ſwallows preſently, and concludes in haſte; Therefore, if the Text hands forth Baptiſme, the baptized Perſon muſt be a grown man, as the word (man) commonly imports.
Now can I be a faithfull and equall examiner and Preacher of20 Gods Word, and conceale the diſcraſie of the Tranſlation and the preſent Obſtruction of Truth: knowing, that the Originall ſaith only,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: and the VulgarText. Graec. Edit. vulgat anſwerably, Niſi quis renatus fuerit, Except one be borne: And that except a Child be not one, he is not excluded from Baptiſme by the warrant of this Text, but affixed to it?
Here the ſenſeleſſe Cenſurer ignorantly retorts upon me, that I ſpeake my ſelfe wiſer than all the Engliſh Interpreters of the Bible, and ſet them before my Tribunall; and above all this, that I correct the Word of God: when I am indeed Gods Advocate, and ſet my ſelfe before the Tribunall of all the learned Knowers of the Originall, to whom I humbly appeale as Judges; and when I only vindicate Gods known Word from groſſe errour and miſinterpretation, and proteſt againſt it, leſt I ſhould partake of it, according to the Rule in the Canon Law, ErrorGratian. D 80. C. error cui non. cui non reſiſtitur approbatur, We approve the Errour which we do not reſiſt.
The Black within the White, is:21 Theſe blockiſh and dull-ſoul'd Cenſurers know no other Language than Mam-Engliſh, or, their mother Tongue: and they would faine have the whole worke of ſounding Scripture by the Line and Plummet, to move altogether and run within their own ſmall Sphere and Circle; and ſo they would ſhoulder it with the talleſt Divines, becauſe they have been Abecedarii, and can, after much hammering, and ſtammering, and many a ſmarting Laſh, put the Letters together, and caſt a ſpell.
I ſhall never be ſo forward and hardy as the late Engliſh Rabbi Dr Featly, who delivers for poſitive,Dr Featly in his Dipper dipt, not far from the beginning. and avouches plainly, That no Tranſlation is authenticall, or, the Word of God. But I ſhall touch every ſuſpicious Text of a Tranſlation, with the Lydius Lapis of the Originall: And if I make a falſe ſtep, let the Learned tread upon me and cruſh me.
I anſwer therefore to the ſhallow ▪ thoughted Cenſurers, in St Gregory'sSt Greg. Homil. 7. in Ezech. D. Tho. 2. 2 ▪ q. 43. art. 7. Words alleaged by the Angelicall Doctor: Si de Veritate ſcandalum ſ•mitur, utiliùs naſci permittitur ſcandalum quàm Verit as relinquatur:22 If a Scandall be taken from Truth, the Birth of a Scandall is more profitably permitted than Truth may be relinquiſhed: The Scandall is paſſivum non activum, paſſive not active; non datum ſed acceptum, not given but taken.
VVHereas Chriſt the Son of the living God, by his Humanation, his Paſſion, and his Death, is the Univerſall Cauſe of our everlaſting Life and Salvation: And whereas Univerſall Strength or Virtue even in theſe naturall Things, is not bowed to us, and applied to particular effects, but by particular cauſes: it was convenient and reaſonable, that ſome Remedies ſhould be preſcribed and adhibited to us in a ruinous Condition, that ſhould, as particular cauſes, convey and confer to us the Virtue of the Cauſe which is Univerſall. Theſe excellent Remedies are the Sacraments.
And as the ſecond Cauſes and Inſtruments of the firſt; and particular23 Cauſes attend the worke of the Univerſall Cauſe: So theſe our Sacraments are the means and Inſtruments of Chriſt, for the effecting of his divine and ſaving Worke upon us. And becauſe there are always required to the worke of the principall Cauſe, proportionable Inſtruments; it was congruous, that theſe our Sacraments ſhould be preſented to us under practicall and viſible Signes, and efficacious Words wch are audible: the Univerſall Cauſe of our Salvation, being the Word of God Incarnate, and made ſenſible by aſſuming humane Nature, & elevating it in the Perſon of Chriſt.
And becauſe there is no ſalvation without Grace, as being previous and ſingularly proportionable to Glory; it is likewiſe conformable to right Reaſon and Meaſure, that Sacraments ſhould be the divine Inſtruments of Grace in us; not as introducing the laſt effect of Grace by their virtue; but after the manner as the Sun and a man beget a man, wch notwithſtanding touch not in their operation, the Eſſence of the Intellective Soule, becauſe it comes ab extra from without by Creation, and is24 not educed ex potentia Materiae, from the paſſive power of the Matter.
And therefore, as the materiall Cauſes of our production in Generation, are attendant only upon the laſt diſpoſition of the Matter, and aime preciſely at the union of the Soule with the Body: So the Sacraments doe not phyſically produce Grace it ſelfe, being a ſupernaturall and proper gift of God the ſole fountaine of Grace; but only touch incluſively, the laſt diſpoſition to it, pretending to the Union, and moving God to the production of it in a worthy Receiver.
In relation to which virtus motrix, moving virtue, (moving the Will of God upon his promiſe,) the Prophet Micah ſaith, Thou wilt caſt all theirMich. 7. 19. ſins into the depths of the Sea. Where Arias Montanus notes out of the Rabbins, that it was cuſtomary withBenedictt. Arias Montan. in Mich. ex Rabbinis in Miſnaroth. the Jewes to throw all things they did execrate and abominate, into the Lake Aſphaltites, called Mare Mortuum, the dead or ſalt Sea. And conformably, the Indians who had expreſſed in them ſome footſteps of Judaiſme, being now lightly impreſſed, expreſſe their ſins in writing, or by25 ſome other Symboll; which they caſt into a River, that it may be carried into the Sea, out of all ſight and memory; as Acoſta hath deliver'd toAcoſta li. 5. de novo Orbe, cap 25. memory, from his owne ſight. But our Prophet alludes properly to the drowning of Pharaoh in the Red Sea; which was a type of Baptiſme, made blood-red by the death of Chriſt; and in the which our Aegyptian ſins are deſtroyed. Whence TheodoretTheod. & Rupert. in hunc locum. and Rupertus doe here by the depths of the Sea, allegorically underſtand Baptiſme.
And Saint Gregory drawes out in a long-ſpun thread, this efficacy of Baptiſme from the drowning of the Aegyptians: and inferres, Qui ergò dicit peccata in Baptiſmate funditùsGregor. Magnus in lib epiſt. ep. 39. ad Theoctiſtam Patriciam. non dimitti, dicat in Mari rubro Aegyptios non veracitèr mortuos: He therefore, that ſayes our ſinnes are not forgiven in Baptiſme, may as truly ſay, that the Aegyptians were not drowned in the Red Sea: and if he will give this, he muſt grant the other. And he fortifies himſelfe with a reaſon of Proofe: Quia nimirum plus valet in abſolutione noſtrâ veritas, quùm umbra veritatis: Becauſe the26 Truth is of more validity in our deliverance and abſolution, than the ſhadow of the Truth.
The Nicen Creed is, after Scripture, the warrant of theſe writers:〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉;Symb. Nicen. I beleeve one Baptiſme for the remiſſion of ſins.
THe Signes alſo, and Matter of the Sacraments, are by divine Inſtitution, moſt divinely and conveniently inſtituted. Behold this divine conveniency in Baptiſme, wherein we are ſpiritually regenerated wch analogy to material generation.
For: Whereas materiall Generation is Motus vel mutatio de non-eſſe ad••ſſe, A Motion or mutation from not-Being to Being; and Man in his firſt ▪ Being, is, for the transfuſion of Originall ſin, debarred of his firſt Birthright, the prime infuſion of ſpirituall Life; from the which he doth afterwards analogically recede more and more, as he is more and more implicated in the bonds and ſins of Death: it was orderly, that unto Baptiſme, which is the Laver of ſpirituall Regeneration, there ſhould be aſcertain'd27 on the part of the Sacrament, and annexed the ſpirituall virtue of waſhing away and removing ſin by the infuſion of Grace; and of tranſlating by the ſame Grace, man to a gracious life above Nature.
And becauſe Signum reſpondere debet ſignificato, the ſigne muſt alwaies and ſignally anſwer to the thing ſignified; and the ablution of the outward filth of the body, is effected inſtrumentally by water: it was conſonant, for the practicall ſignifying of the ſpirituall and inward ablution of ſin, that this initiatory Sacrament ſhould be diſpenſed outwardly with water, ſanctified by the word of God.
And as one thing is once only generated; ſo is it concordant, that Baptiſme once rightly conferred, ſhould not be iterated upon the ſame ſubject; leſt it ſhould wander, deviate, and degenerate from the Nature of Regeneration, as forgetting of what houſe it came.
It goes without oppoſition in the ſchoole of naturall Phyloſophy; that a thing is by ſo much the more Noble, by how much it hath more28 of inward forme, from which formall intereſt, the Celeſtiall bodies and pretious Gemms have their Nobility: And the Sacraments are dignified by their divine and beautifull Influx, and their formall ſetting our ſouls in the grace and peace of God which paſſeth all underſtanding.
Ariſtophanes undertaking the praiſes of temporall peace, findes notAriſtoph. in pacc. a name•quall with the praiſes of it; and he wiſhes to finde〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a word or name equalling the capacity of ten thouſand Amphors: (the Amphor was a large two-car'd Veſſell in Athens:) but what word can ſuffice to blazon the dignity of our Spirituall and Sacramentall peace with God?
A Sacrament, beyond that it is ſignum rei ſacrae, a ſigne of an holy thing; is in the next conſideration, and in the review, Viſibile ſignum Doni inviſibilis, à Deo inſtitutionem trahens, A viſible ſigne of an inviſible Gift, deriving it's inſtitutionSt Aug. lib. 2. de Doctrina chriſtiana, cap. 1. from God.
Signum, as the Biſhop of Hippo29 defines it, eſt res praeter ſpeciem quam ingerit ſenſibus, aliud aliquid ex ſe faciens in cogitationem venire: A ſigne is a thing, of it ſelfe cauſing an other thing to preſs upon our thoughts, beſides the reſemblance which it offers to our ſenſes.
Firſt then: every Sacrament muſt be ſignum ſenſibile, a ſenſible ſigne: And all Sacraments both old and new, are combined in this. For: Although God might and could have ordained ſome ſpirituall ſigne of grace, yet that ſigne ſhould not have properly been a ſigne in a Sacrament, (howſoever ſome Doctors pull ſtrongly for the contrary,) as I now ſpeake of Sacraments: Becauſe it ſhould not have been ſignum humanum ſed Angelicum, an humane but an Angelicall ſigne; and ſhould have conformed to ſubſiſting ſpirits, not to men conſiſting of ſouls and bodies: Who require ſuch Sacraments, as are able to congregate into a being, and to conſerve in a warme being, a viſible Church: God attemperating and proportioning his Ordinances to us and our mixt condition.
30That the Character impreſſed upon the ſoul in Baptiſm, is a ſpirituall and inviſible ſigne; I will not doubt: But it hath no ſhelter here.
Secondly: there are ſpeculative and practicall ſignes. And the Sacraments of the old Law, were not ſignes meerly theoricall or ſpeculative of ſalvation and Grace; but practicall. Becauſe the promiſe of a thing is not ſpeculatively-behaviour'd and manner'd towards the thing promiſed, but practically; as cauſing it in ſome manner. For: he that promiſeth is afterwards moved by his promiſe, to correſpond with it by fulfilling it. And thus the promiſe is Cauſa moralis Re•promiſſae, the morall cauſe of the thing promiſed: Every promiſe having a morall force, actually moving, or apt to move the promiſer to performance.
Whereas therefore, all the old Sacraments were certain promiſes or ſignes, by the which, God did, as it were, promiſe in figures, Chriſt and our Salvation: it is fairly and fruitfully conſequent, that they were practicall ſignes of Grace to be given by Chriſt: the Figure-Promiſes, rending31 to after-performance through him that was to come. And if the old Sacraments were practicall ſignes; it is a ſigne, that the new are much more, and more excellently, as graſping a more excellent promiſe.
Thirdly: the ſigne here, muſt repreſent a ſacred and inviſible thing, not a thing which is profane or viſible. The ſacred inviſible thing which the Sacraments of the new Law doe ſignifie, is threefold: 1. Habituall and juſtifying Grace, which, as preſent, is demonſtrated: 2. The paſſion of Chriſt the mediator, which is the cauſe of Grace, and is remembred as being paſt: 3. Glory and life eternall, which is the effect of Grace, and which, all habituall Grace, quantum est ex ſe, brings to it's Subject; and which as being hereafter to come, is prefigur'd.
For the Sacraments ſignifying Grace, do conſequently ſignifie the beginning and end of the ſaine grace. And their ſignification muſt be conſider'd with ſome proportionable reference to the light of the divine underſtanding, and the beams and irradiations32 of it; which brings & binds up uno intuitn, both ends together: Becauſe the inſtitution of a Sacrament, is only of God the author of Grace; God alone being able to compound and connex inward grace with an outward ſigne.
I Wade farther. It is a fundamentall rule, Aequè certa ſunt ac evidentia, quae ex ſacris Literis evidentèr ac certè deducuntur, atque ea quae in illis expreſsè &〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, i. e. ad verbum & in terminis, habentur. The things are equally certaine and evident, which are evidently and certainly deduced from ſacred Scripture, as the things which are found in Scripture expreſly, and word for word. And the ſame rule is return'd in another dreſſe: Concluſions are as right as their Principles, if rightly and conſequentially concluded.
The firſt reaſon of this truth, is fundamentall as the truth is: Ex vero nil niſi verum, of truth comes nothing but truth, by true deduction. And the ſecond reaſon is: Becauſe33 the concluſion is in effect, the principle; and the truth deduced, is the truth from whence the deduction iſſues, in other and more declaring terms.
It is true, that of truth, falſhood may come per accidens, by chance, and materially; not by formall, right and neceſſary conſequence.
Hence we cry: Principia fidei, vel quae ex eis deducuntur, ſunt in Scriptura: The principles of faith, or, the truths deduced from them, are in Scripture: And, Omnis divina revelatio eſt in ſcriptura, vel directè, vel per neceſſariam, & inevitabilem conſequentiam: Every revealed truth is in Scripture, either directly, or by neceſſary and inevitable conſequence. And hence we throw abroad; he that holds a Doctrine, holds all the conſequences of it: Becauſe the Doctrine and the Conſequences are one identicall truth in different language. The difference betwixt Principles and Concluſions being, according to the Nature of ſimilitudes, like the difference betwixt the heavenly and earthly bodies: The heavenly bodies having34 their laſt perfection from their creation, and by their very nature; but the earthly bodies acquiring their due perfection by mutation and motion; becauſe they are generable and corruptible: Or: Like the bleſſedneſſe of the Creator and the Creature: Whereas ſoli Deo BeatitudoD. Tho. p. 1. q. 62. art. 4. in corpore. perfecta eſt naturalis; quia idem eſt ſibi eſſe & beatum eſſe; Perfect bleſſedneſſe is naturall to God alone; becauſe to be and to be bleſſed is the ſame thing to him: But the bleſſedneſſe of the Creature, requires a triall of motion in the way; which is heavenly-true, even of the Angels.
THE truth which I promiſe to faſten, and to ſettle upon pillars, as wiſedome doth her Houſe: namely,P. o•. 9. 1. that the words, Except one be borne, &c. engage for Baptiſm: I prove in the firſt onſet, from the words of the Text it ſelfe: thus: Here within theſe words, is contained all that is eſſentially neceſſary to Baptiſm; all other things excluded:35 And this is the onely-ſafe way to know and finde when a Text ſpeaks fully and wholly of any thing: This being that full and adequate Correſpondence, which Logick exacts betwixt an Eſſence and the thing eſſentiated; as alſo betwixt the thing defined and the Definition: that the one may fitly, fully and entirely pertain to the other, and be convertible with it, and meaſurable by it.
After this manner, Baptiſm is reſponſible to the Text, and the Text to Baptiſm. For: Baptiſm is our birth of water and of the ſpirit, opening unto us the Kingdome of God; And, our birth of water and of the Spirit, opening unto us the Kingdome of God, is Baptiſm: And: This our birth of water and of the Spirit, opening unto us the Kingdome of God, is nothing elſe but Baptiſm; And, Baptiſm is nothing elſe, than this our birth of water and of the Spirit, opening unto us the Kingdome of God.
If the Son of the Cooper ſhall ſet in his hoope, another Text, which takes up ſomething of this,36 and conjoines it with ſome other thing diſſentaneous from Baptiſm, (wherein the holy Ghoſt denotes a particular and ſecret concordance of Divine things and Ordinances,) that he may vie it with this our Text: the Logicall Rule will unhoop him, de diſſimilibus non eſt idem Judicium, Of things unlike, wee may not paſſe the ſame judgment.
And even according to Arithmeticall Proportion; the meer addition of a ſingle Unity, detracts from the ſameneſſe, yea and creates a ſpecifical difference betwixt numbers: And, Numerus eſt in numeratis, A number, that it may be reall and not notionall onely, muſt be ſubjected in the things numbred, being therefore alſo accordingly differenced.
But when things of a different number, differ alſo in Nature; they are made by more differences, more different. And in things Divine, as in naturall things, partiall Natures are communicable to ſeverall things. The Text, Waſh ye, makeIſa. 1. 16. you cleane; for which, the Vulgar offers, Lavamini, & mundi eſtote,Interp. vulgat. be ye waſhed, and cleane; though it37 foreſpeak for Baptiſm, and was accepted under ſuch a notion in the Primitive Church; yet becauſe the precept is unreſtrained, undetermined, and not bounded with a difference, and therefore not definitive; it bound not Chriſtians with a ſtrict bond; and Heathens finding it lax and wide, had ſeemingly, but unjuſtly brought it to their lustrations, as they are juſtly taxed by St Juſtin. Juſtin Mar. tyr, Apolog. primâ & in Paraeneſi ad Graecos & Gentiles.
THat in this our Text is all eſſentially neceſſary to Baptiſm, is farther apparent: Becauſe here is ſignum externum & ſenſibile, the externall and ſenſible ſigne, being water; and the concurrence of it, with the ſpirit: Here is operatio vel〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉ſancti ſpiritus interna & ſpiritualis, the inward and ſpirituall operation and energy of the holy ſpirit (that workes alwaies inwardly,) implying〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, an inward worke and Birth: And here is mandatum Dei ſaltem implicitum, vel per conſequentiam, at the leaſt an implicit or conſequentiall mandat of God.
38For although God be not our Neighbour, and therefore ſuch obligations are not incidentiall upon him: Yet we are all fundamentally obliged, quatenus proximi; as neighbours to remove from our Neighbours, with the ſame love wherewith we love our ſelves, and with our uttermoſt power, the impediments and obſtacles lying in their way to the Kingdome of God: And therefore, this divine Declaration being extant and ſuppoſed; we are implicitely and conſequentially commanded to execute the Sequell of it.
Moreover: A ſigne may be naturale, quod non pendet ex novâ Inſtitutions, ſed ex naturâ ſuâ ſignificat; vel voluntarium, & ex arbitrio instituentis, id eſt, ad placitum divinum vel humanum; Naturall, which doth not depend upon a new Inſtitution, but ſignifieth of it's own nature; or voluntary, and from the Arbitriment of the Inſtitutor, that is, according to divine or humane appointment: And water here, is of divine and royall Institution, as the Spirit is of Royall and Divine operation,39 and as the Mandat is Divine and Royall.
Laſtly: The ſigne as it is here aſſign'd, hath compleat analogy with the thing it ſignifies; it being moſt proper to that which is〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the ſigne, to ſignifie: Which it may doe quoad ſubſtantiam, & quoad effectus primarios aut ſecundarios, reſpectively to it's ſubſtance, and to it's primary or ſecundary effects; as here the ſigne doth, principalitèr quoad effectum Ablutionis, principally with a finger pointing to it's effect of Ablution.
Water waſhes with its Humidity, being in the firſt and confuſe view of Reaſon it's prime Quality; and therefore, fitly ſignifies the Ablution of our ſins: With its Frigidity, it mitigates the ſuperfluous exceedings of heat; and therefore fitly ſignifies the mitigation of the Fomes Peccat•, fire-hot and combuſtible matter of ſin, being concupiſcence: And as water is diaphanous, it is ſuſceptive of Light; and therefore fitly enters league with Baptiſm, in quantum eſt Fidei Sacramentum, as40 it is the Sacrament of Faith, being the prime habituall and ſupernaturall Light of the Soul. (It muſt be the Woolf of the evenings, whichJerem. 5. 6. Oppianus likewiſe adviſedly cals〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Walker in the darkeOppian li. 1. de Venat. night; that would abridge innocent Hearts and Lambs of the Sacrament of Light.)
And the Sacrament of Baptiſm, as we finde it here, is a practicall ſigne, and beſides it's ſignification hath efficiency, as entitling us to the Kingdome of God through his princely Son the Bridegroom of our Soules, and as therefore adorning us with the wedding Garment of grace the pledge of Glory; (and for this reaſon is aptly called a Seale, being a practicall ſigne as not only repreſenting the Image, but alſo impreſſing it in the wax;) by the power of the Principle cauſe or Agent, that comes regalitèr, legalitèr, & authoritativè, regally, legally, and authoritatively with an Imprimatur, Let there be an impreſſion of the Seale in the Soul.
I Confirme it, firſt. That which is eſſentially, with reſpect to the whole Eſſence, agreable to Baptiſm, (or any other thing,) is not common to many in the ſame literall conſtruction, or communicable to any thing of a different kind: leſt the whole Eſſence of Things ſhould be confounded.
Verily: The Genus in a Definition, is eſſentiall to the thing defined, and communicable to many things of a different kind: But it is not eſſentiall to the thing defined, (or to other things,) with reſpect to the whole Eſſence, but only as a Logicall part. Neither are teares in Repentance Eſſentiall to Contrition, (which is an Act of Diſplicence in the heart;) that they ſhould Eſſentially pertaine to the meanes of Salvation. But water is eſſentially neceſſary to ordinary Baptiſm; though in extraordinary caſes, involving Extremum periculum & horam Mortis, extreame danger and the houre of, death the defect of it may be ſupplied.
42And the Declaration here, as it is delivered in high terms, ſo is it Eſſentiall with reſpect to the whole Eſſence of ordinary Baptiſm. Which directed the Chair-divine of Aquine to ſpeak high: Si aliqui nunc ſanctificarenturD. Tha. part. 3. quaeſt. 68. art. 1. ad. 3. in Utero, neceſſe eſſet eos baptizari, ut per ſuſceptionem Characteris, altis membris Chriſti conformarentur: If any ſhould be now ſanctified in the womb, (as Jeremy and John the Baptiſt,) and clean'd from Originall ſin, they ſhould of neceſſity be Baptized, that by the ſuſception of the Character they might be conformed to the other members of Chriſt: this indelible Character having three Offices, aptos nos facere ad culium divinum, configurare Chriſto ejúſque Sanctis, & diſtinguere ab altis; to apt the ſubject, in ſome meaſure, for Divine Worſhip; to configure us to Chriſt and his Saints, (to Chriſt primarily and ſecundarily to his Saints under a new conſideration;) and to diſtinguiſh the Baptized from the unbaptized, even in Hell it ſelfe.
We are configur'd to Christ, whoHeb. 1. 3. is the brightneſſe or effulgency of his43 Fathers Glory, and the figure of his ſubſtance, as the vulgar; or, as the Greek Text,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,Edit. vulgat Text. Graec.〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉and the Character of his ſubſiſtence; or, and the expreſſe Image of his Perſon, as the Engliſh. The ſubject of the Character, is the Soul ſecunaùm partem Intellectivam, according to the Intellective part; in the which part Faith is.
And in Baptiſm, that which is Sacramentum tamùm, the Sacrament only, is the corporeall and exteriour Ablution, effected under the preſcribed forme of words: That which is Res tantùm, the Thing only, is the Juſtification of the Perſon Baptized: And that which is Res & Sacramentum, the Thing and the Sacrament, is the Character of Baptiſm.
And as the fit uſe of the preſcribed words, though neceſſary to ordinary Baptiſm, (which therefore may not be adminiſtred by one that is dumb,) is included here in the right uſe of the water tending to ſpirituall Birth; ſo the impreſſion of the Character, though likewiſe neceſſary, is here included in the44 worke of the Spirit: Compleat Birth in Baptiſm, ſuppoſing the performance of all works neceſſary to ſuch Birth.
And all this holds faire with reaſon: it belonging to young Sheep and initiated Servants and Soldiers, to be ſigned with a Character; and Chriſt being our good Shepheard, Maſter ▪ Captaine; who therefore, was not himſelfe ſigned with a created Character; And therefore alſo, neither Circumciſion, nor any Sacrament of the old Law, did imprint a Character in the Soule.
I Confirm it, ſecondly. This Text agrees not with any Sacred Thing ſo evenly as with Baptiſm. Let any man ▪ go, and make a neer ſearch, percurrendo per ſingula, examining the ſingulars in every kinde. Let any man travell per enumerationem partium, through the numbring of all the choice parts of Divine Worſhip, or of Gods Word: and in his return, honeſtly give up his Verdict.
45The child of the Hoop, anſwers out of the Tub; That by born of water, is meant born of the word; becauſe the word is in Scripture oftentimes compar'd with water: and that the word meant, demeanes it ſelfe as an Inſtrumentall cauſe, the Spirit as an Efficient.
I anſwer: This is the Hocus Pocus of deſperate Ignorance, and a fugitive courſe. For: It is a breaking of all hoopes and bonds, and a running haſtily without cauſe, from the literall or hiſtoricall Senſe to a figure; in open defiance of the Rule, Minimè recurrendum eſt ad figuras, ubinulla cogit Neceſſitas aut Abſurditas: We muſt not run back to figures, where we are not compelled by Neceſſity or Abſurdity: Yea even againſt a fundamentall Axiom ſet in Divinity, as a Star in the Firmament, for our guidance in the right underſtanding of Scripture: Which Axiom is precedent to the Rule: The literall ſenſe, as the moſt obvious, and ſweetly dropping from the native ſimplicity and propriety of words, as from a moderate Limbeck; if it be Uſher to no evident46 abſurdity, is alwaies the meaning of the Holy Ghoſt.
And if it were not: The Readers of Scripture would be Vagabonds, and never know where to ſit down. And if, in every propulſion of our corrupt wils, we might affix new ſenſes; we might alſo commonly deprave the moſt clear and moſt flouriſhing places of Scripture, and unbottom them from their proper hold, root, and inclination.
The Herbe called Morſus Diaboli, Devils-bit, the God of Nature hath ſo deeply rooted, that it is not pulled up entire: From the root of which, grew the name, and fable, that the Devill bites off the root, envying to us the uſe of it, as conducing ſo much to our health. When we violently pluck Scriptures from their native root and letter, with which they innocently bear towards us: the Devill bites in earneſt, and ultra fabulā, beyond a fable.
And therefore, we prove matters of Faith, and matters in controverſy, only from the free-offering of the literall ſenſe. And hence the Maxime: Theologia Symbolica vel Allegorica47 non eſt argumentativa: Symbolicall or Allegoricall Divinity is not reducible to Argument. For as the Spirituall ſenſe, ſuper literalem fundatur, & cum ſupponit, accordingD. Tho. p. 1. q. 1. art ▪ 10. in corp. to the determination of Aquinas; is founded upon the literall ſenſe, and ſuppoſeth it: So it ſuppoſeth alſo, that the Senſe of the foundation is the firſt, and moſt genuine Senſe; as being the firſt conſiderable, and only root and prop of the reſt. And the ſame Aquinas: Seaſus literalis eſt, quem Auctor intendit:Idem ibid. The Author of Scripture, intends the literall ſenſe. And againe: treating of the literall ſenſe he addeth:Idem ibid. ad primum. ex quo ſolo poteſt trahi argumētum, non autem ex his, quae ſecundùm allegor•am dicuntur, ut dicit Auguſtinus: Out of which only, we may draw an affirmative argument, but not from the things ſpoken according to Allegory, as St Auſtin ſaith.
Vincentius the Donatiſt had in a prodigall humour attempted to prove from a dark and myſticallSt Aug. ep. 4•. contra ▪ Vincentium Donatiſtam. place in the Canticles, that the Church of God was fled into Africa: But St Auſtin betaking himſelfe46〈1 page duplicate〉47〈1 page duplicate〉48to the royall Fort here, put him to flight with a Sarcaſme, ipſúmque vincebat Vincentium, and conquer'd him that had his name from conquering; with a Negative Argument.
THE Amplificator, thinking to hoop us up, amplifies the compariſon, by deſcribing in the rebound, how the Word agrees and contracts with water: As that 1: Water is of a purifying nature, and ſo is the Word: 2: Water is weak of it ſelfe, except it be compounded, and made comfortable with comfortable Ingredients; and ſo the word is a dead letter; and the comfortable Spirit and Life of the Word, is the true ſenſe thereof: 3: Water hath a cooling and refreſhing quality; and ſo the Word.
I anſwer: All this is true: and all ſuperlatively comprehended in Baptiſm. As 1: Baptiſm is of a moſt purifying nature: 2: Except the water in Baptiſm act with the ſpirit, it is moſt weak, and brings cold comfort: (But an argument raiſed from water here, taken for the word; in a word, is as weak49 as water:) 3: Baptiſm is indued with a moſt cooling and refreſhing quality.
Had the chiefe Properties of water, cloſed with the word, and not with Baptiſm; and been proper to the word quarto modo, proper to the word and only to the word: the Adverſary, and the two proper Pages of his black Guard, had made a fairer appearance with their Pageantry.
Thus did the Devils Oracles deliver many ſound truths, the better, under ſuch palliations to diſſeminate & publiſh their moſt unſound errors. Thus doth a ſtinke offend us more, when concomitant with ſome weake perfume which it hath pro vehiculo, than if it ſingly ſets upon us; the perfume procuring for the ſtink, eaſier admittance into our ſenſe: the ſtinking Perfumer that ſmels of Italy, knows it practically: and ſtinking Perfumers are more offenſive. Thus poyſons are moſt dangerous and irremediable, when joyned in commiſſion with a cordiall that is not able to reſiſt them: It ſerving to conduct them50 to the heart, and being unable to vanquiſh their malignity.
This is〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to leadeAriſtoph. in Avibus. Suidas in voce〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. ſilly women captive by the admixtion of truth with falſhood, as the old Fowlers deceiv'd Pigeons by ſhewing an exoculated Pigeon leaping and dancing in a net. And theſe impious waies of enervating and cutting the ſinews of Scripture, may ſoone imbroyle the whole frame of it, and overturn all. Thus did the Tyrant Mezentius in Virgil, binde the quick and the dead together, and then, throw them into a den; leaving the living ſtill imbracing the dead, untill death imbraced the living, and made the conjunction homogeneall.
Excellently Tertullian of Carthage:Tert. lib. de Praeſcriptionibus adverſus Haereticos. Tantum Veritati obſtrepit adulter Senſus, quantum & Corruptor Stylus, An adulterating Senſe is as obſtreperous to Truth, as a corrupting ſtyle: a falſe Senſe of a true and Divine Text, being as miſchievous,51 and doing the ſame work as a profane and aſcititious Text. And vel caeco apparet, Violentam hanc, & quaſi ſidiculis extortam eſſe explicationem; the blinde beggar may ſee this figurative explication, or confeſſion of the Text, to be violent, and, as it were, extorted with the Rack.
I Prove ſecondly, that the Text proclaimes Baptiſm: By anſwering the Arguments marching up in Batalia againſt this Truth. The firſt is. The new Birth is not attributed in Scripture to Baptiſm.
I anſwer: This propoſition is Antichriſtian, and moſt odiouſly falſe; as having the whole toad in it, guts and all. Baptiſm is named in ſcripture, Lovacrum Regenerationis, the Laver of Regeneration: of which afterwards. I will here, only ſet in the middle, a Text of the Apoſtolicall Epiſtle to the Coloſſians:Coloſ. 2. 12. Buried with him in Baptiſm, wherein alſo you are riſen with him, through the Faith of the operation of52 God. Buried and riſen in Spiritualibus, in Spirituall things; is nothing elſe but born againe. In the which Buriall and Reſurrection, Corruptio unius eſt Generatio alterius, The corruption of the old man is the Generation of the new; and of the Subjects of ſin, we are made the Adopted Children of God.
And the Baptiſm here exhibited, muſt be Baptiſmus Fluminis, the Baptiſm of the Flood, or water-Baptiſm, which was commonly given with Immerſion, to repreſent the Sepulture of Chriſt; anſwerably to this Text: And therefore, the Text runs, Buried with him. And in Sacred Sincerity, (which in our dealing of ſacred things, ought to deale moſt ſincerely,) the Greek word〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Baptiſm. properly ſignifieth Immerſion: though in rigore loquendo, Ablution is of the Fſſence of our Baptiſm; but the manner of Ablution, is accidentary: becauſe the Intention of the Law-giver, with reſpect to the thing ſignified, is in the ſubſtance, ut abluamur, that we be waſhed.
And in this Baptiſm, (whatſoever53 the Adverſary muttereth, and champeth betwixt his teeth,) we are properly Baptized into Chriſts Death and ſufferings: Becauſe the virtue of this Baptiſm, is derived from his Death; by the which we dy to ſin, and live to God. And what is there in the eſſentiall Constitution of the new Birth of a reaſonable Creature; that is, in the conſtitution of a Child by Adoption; which is not reaſonably diſcovered in a Baptized Infant; etiamſi paſſivè ſe gerat?
Adoption is by habituall Grace; which the Infant may receive by Infuſion: though he cannot cry, Abba, Father; as wanting actuallGal. 4. 6. Faith. Adoption differs from Naturall filiation in this Eſſentially, that Naturall filiation is founded in communicatione naturae viventis, in the communication of the Nature of a living Perſon, (Chriſt being calledMat. 16. 16. the Son of the living God, quia viventium eſt generare ſibi ſimile in natura, becauſe it is the part of living things to beget their like in Nature:)Vide Concil. Francoſordienſe, circ•finem. But Adoption is the Aſſumption of an extraneous Perſon, into the54 place of a Son: So may God aſſume a Child, in his free goodneſſe. Adoptare, eſt quaſi optare ut ſit quod per naturam non eſt: To Adopt, is in a manner to wiſh, that he were a Son by Nature who is not: So God may joyne Children cloſely to him, as his Children: the wiſh in the Notation of the Name, failing here; becauſe it failes of Divine Perfection. Adoptio fit per Filium natural•m, ubi naturalis Filius eſt: Adoption is made through the naturall Son, in whom the Right and Heirſhip ſtands; where there is one; who conſentingly yeelds up ſomething of his Right: And Children may be Adopted through Chriſt the Naturall Son; and be made partakers of his merits by the Sacrament of Baptiſm; The Sacraments being the Conduit-pipes, conveying the Grace of God, and Merits of Chriſt to us.
The Eagle of the Thomiſts accords:D. Tho. p. 3 q. 62. art:••n ſine Corporis. Unde manifeſtum eſt, quòd Sacramenta Eccleſiae ſpecialiter habent virtutem ex Paſſione Chriſti, cujus Virtus quodammodò nobis copulatur per ſuſceptionem Sacramentorum. 55In cujus ſignum de latere Chriſti pendentis in Cruce, fluxerunt Aqua & Sanguis, quorum unum pertinet ad Baptiſmum, aliud ad Euchariſtiam, quae ſunt potiſſima Sacramenta. Whence it is manifeſt that the Sacraments of the Church, ſpecially have virtue from the paſſion of Chriſt, the virtue whereof is in ſome manner coupled with us by the ſuſception of the Sacraments. In ſigne of which, out of the ſide of Chriſt hanging on the Croſſe, flowed Water and Blood, one whereof pertaineth to Baptiſm, the other to the Euchariſt, being the Chiefe Sacraments. He brings up the reare in the ſame Article,Idem ibid. ad tertium. with: Juſtificatio attribuitur Reſurrectioni ratione termini ad quem, qui eſt novitas v•tae per gratiam: Attribuitur tamen paſſioni ratione termini à quo, ſcil•cet quantum ad d•miſſion•m Culpae: Juſtification is attributed to the Reſurrection of Chriſt, as to that to which the motion tends, which is newneſſe of Life by Grace: Yet is it attributed to the Paſſion of Chriſt, as that from which the motion ariſes, Videl. with regard to the remiſſion of the fault.
56And therefore, becauſe in the Euchariſt alſo, there is a Repreſentation of Chriſts Death, by the which we are made alive, and riſe with Chriſt; the Signes there, are called by the Fathers of the firſt Nicen Councill,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,Concilium Nic•num primum. the Symbols of the Reſurrection.
THE ſacred words: You are riſen with him, through the Faith of the operation of God: reinforce upon our Thoughts, that divine Faith is infuſed by God, the Supreame Divine Power, to whom nothing is impoſſible, which involves not repugnantiam in terminis, a repugnancy in the Terms.
And in pious Truth: The Agent of infinite Power, doth not of neceſſity require to his Action or Work, Matter or Instrument: as it appeares in Creation, which is one of the proper and incommunicable Actions of God. Therefore, neither doth he require any diſpoſition or Preparation in the Subject or any kind of inſtrumentall concurrence.
57Wherefore God may ſtrangely operate Faith in children: although we have no comprehenſive knowledge of ſuch operation: God's Spirituall operations in us, operated by his Creative or like Virtue; being rather known to us by their Effects, than by their Manner of Infuſion.
We own a Doctrine: Infantes ſunt negativè Infideles, non poſitivè: Infants before Baptiſm, are Infidels negatively, not poſitively. Wherein they are diſtinguiſhed from grown Heathens, being poſitively Infidels. Now if God infuſeth Faith into Infidels that are ſuch poſitively; yea, if the edge of his Power could be dulled by Reſiſtance in the Subject, he may infuſe Faith into ſuch as are negatively Infidels; here being leſſe reſiſtance, and theſe having no oppoſite Habit, or Act of perverſe will.
But the ſtrangeneſſe is, (ſaith he, who with ſufficient unadviſedneſſeDoctor Taylor in his Liberty of propheſy…Sect. 18. and Incogitancy, tooke ſo much liberty in his Liberty of Propheſying;) That there ſhould be an Inſtrument without an Agent to mannage, or force to actuate it.
58Doth not God infuſe a reaſonable Soul into a child, in the very darke Wombe: And is not Reaſon there in Actu ſignato, a long while, as an Inſtrument without an Agent to mannage, or force to actuate it? And though John the Baptiſt was truly Sanctified in the wombe, (which Sanctification was effected by the Infuſion of habituall Grace,) and once leaped there for joy: Yet we hearLuk. 1. 41. no farther of ſuch unuſuall expreſſions in his Nonage; neither have we reaſon to beleeve otherwiſe than that habituall Faith remained in him, as an Inſtrument without an Agent to mannage, or force to actuate it: nor will I dare to put him in equall balance with his Lord and Maſter. And though the laſt be an extraordinary Example: the firſt is not. And why we might not have ſuch ordinary Examples, as frequently in the Order of Grace, as in the Order of Nature; I can not ken.
That John was truly and really purged in his Mothers wombe from Originall ſin, and there Juſtified; StSt. Aug. •p. 57. ad D••d•nu••. Auſtin denies; which St Hierom59 alſo diſavows of Jeremy. St Auſtin'sSt H•erom. in cap. 1. Jerem. reaſon is: quia renaſci praeſupponit naſci: becauſe to be born again, preſuppoſes to be born.
I humbly anſwer: Man, with relation to his Capability of being born againe by Grace, is conceived to be then born when he is conceived in his Mothers Wombe, and receiveth a Soul and Life from God. For: as he is then born with! Originall ſin, ſo even then preſently he may be reborn by Grace, and purified from it; yea and Baptized, either his mother dying, and his way being opened; or ſhe living, and he exerting a foot or hand: that the divine Remedy, as a remedy, may be as early as the diſeaſe.
And our Scripture-plea foreran the Forerunner: he ſhall be filled withLu. 1. 15. the Holy Ghost, even from his mothers Wombe. The Syriack BiblesSyrorum Biblia. have ſanctified, Spiritu ſanctitatis, with the Spirit of Holineſſe: AndCodices Arabui. the Arabick Bookes, in Utero, in the Wombe. And we may not admit ſuch an Audacious Hyperbole in Scripture.
THis habituall Perfection, though it hath no precedent or concomitaut Acts in Children, ſutable with it: Yet hath it Acts preciſely conſequent to it.
For donbtleſſe: Baptized Children, comming to the dawnings of Reaſon, are wonderfully moved and raiſed from the habituall principles of Faith, Hope, Charity, (theſe being inſeparable in them) to many ſpirituall and excellent Eſſayes, of the which, their tenderneſſe is capable; and which are not in unbaptized Children, and ungarriſon'd Souls. As when we graft a Roſe-Tree, and inſert a grain of Muske into the cleft of the Stock; all the Roſes that ſpring from it, if the Tree be not blaſted from the ambient Aire; will ſmell of Musk.
It is true: Theſe Eſſaies are not explicit Acts of Faith, Hope, Charity: Becauſe theſe Acts ordinarily ſuppoſe acquired Knowledge, and Omnis noſtra Cognitio à Senſu initium habet, all our acquired knowledge61 begins by the Senſe. And this Infuſion being acted independenter ab Organis Corporalibus, without dependance on Corporeall Organs, as being meerly Spirituall; and acting upon the Soule ex parte Infuſionis, as if it had no dependance on a Body: Except the body receive an outward Impreſſion of Learning; the Man conſiſting of Soul and Body, is defective in part, and cannot ordinarily and explicitely produce Acts by the Combination of Body and Soul, tending to which production the Body hath no ſuch preſent or former impreſſion.
Although therefore, it flies from one mouth to another: Infantes Baptizati habent Fidem, uti Rationem, in actu primo, non ſecundo: Baptized Infants have Faith as they have Reaſon, in the firſt Act, not in ſecond: that is:〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉non〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, potentialitèr, non energeticè; in remote power and aptitude, not in actuall Operation: Yet it is not meant cum reſpectu ad conſequentia, with reſpect to all that followes; as, that Faith in Children, proceeds of it ſelfe to explicit Act and exerciſe, as62 Reaſon doth, which needeth not outward inſtruction to the common exerciſe of reaſonable Acts: Becauſe Reaſon belongeth to a Man, as proper to him in his fleſhly Houſe, and as being in his Definition; which, Faith, as being ſupernaturall, and a Gift of Grace, doth not.
And this their habituall Perfection, may be well apprehended, as in the reality of it's Infuſion, ſo in it ſelfe: it being in them, ſicut Habitus eſt in Adultis dormientibus, & ex Habitu non operantibus, as an Habit is in us when we ſleepe, and work not by the Habit. Wherefore Baptized Infants are Fideles, of the Faithfull Kinde. And indeed, grown Perſons are not called Faithfull, ab actu, ſed habitu Fidei, from the act, but from the habit of Faith; otherwiſe, when they ſleep, and alſo, when they wake and thinke not of Faith or Divine Things, they ſhould not be Fideles, Faithfull.
I confeſſe that a Baptized Child, educated amongſt the Turks or Indians, and not hearing of Chriſt, would be of the Indian or Turkiſh Profeſſion: Becauſe the Grace of63 Baptiſm would be loſt and chaſed away, by the diſordinate Application to ſenſible and preſent Things. For: As where the Sea is red orNieremberg. Hiſt. Naturae, lib. 16. cap. 57. De mari rubro & nigro. black, the Rocks and Sands are alſo there black or red: So we commonly conform in Religion, to the places of our Education, and are effigiated in morality by the manners of the Perſons with whom we live.
THeſe recluſe and profound ſecrets of Knowledge, will be the more pervious, if this note concerning our Habits be enterweaved.
Thoſe Habits of Vertues which God (the Lord of all Spirituall Treaſure) inſuſeth into the Soule, are actively produced by God, without us, (who paſſively receive them,) or our aid and co-operation. Whence an Infuſed Habit is defined, Bona Qualitas Mentis, quam Deus in nobis, ſine nobis operatur: A good Quality of the Minde, which God worketh in us, without us. And:64 Habitus in Adultis tribuunt facilitatem Potentiae ad operandum: Habits in grown Perſons, give a facility of working to the Power; as being capable of it. And the Acts of thoſe Habits, either elicite or imperate, that is, the exerciſes of Vertue, are ſo produced by Grace in us, and in the Powers of our Soul, (good Habits not comming forth into Act, but by the preſent Influx of actuall Grace,) that we alſo, muſt actively concurre, and not only vitally, but alſo readily, freely, and with Election, and ordination to ſome honeſt end; to their production. 1 Cor. 3. 9. Text. Graec. Lect. Vulg.〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ſaith St Paul: or, as the Vulgar, Dei enim adjutores ſumus; For we are helpers of God, in the worke of God: or, as the Engliſh: For we are laborers together with God.
From this Doctrine of Habits, the ſecond Arauſican Councill tookConcil. Arauſ. ſecund. can. 20. S. Aug. in Sententiis, num. 311. i'ts Riſe, when it publiſhed out of St Austin: Multa enim Bona facit in Homine, ſine Homine, Deus: Sed nihil Boni facit Homo quod non faciat Deus, ut faciat Homo. Many good things God works in Man without65 Man: But Man doth no good thing which God is not the cauſe that Man is the Cauſe of. The former part of this part of the Canon, ſpeaks of Habituall Grace in the Infuſion: the latter part, of actuall Grace and Operation.
It is Viſible here, that the Nature of an Habit is compoſsible with the childiſhneſſe of Children: and that the Habit doth not give a facility of working to their Powers, by reaſon of their Indiſpoſition, inward and outward; as we are indiſpoſed, being in a ſleep, or Traunce, or diſtracted with Affairs of a lower order.
I am ſtartled ſometimes with horror and amazement, as if I were planet-ſtruck; when I conſider and chew in my Thoughts, how inconſiderately and raſhly, the ignorant ranting Rabble of Men, Women and Children, being exhauſti Pudoris, of exhauſted ſhamefaſtneſſe, ruſh beyond the Hoop, and make a rude aſſault upon theſe hidden Depths, and Heigths, and Breadths; the ſound Explications and evolutions whereof, are imbodied in66 School-Divinity. They ſhould hearLucianus adverſus indoctum. the Doggs barke in Lucian; which when young Neanthus plaied upon the Harp of Orpheus without Orpheus his skill; enraged with his tunes out of tune, ran with open mouth upon him, and tore him, almoſt into as many picces, as the noiſe he made, conſiſted of Diſcords.
That Baptiſm is the Inſtrument of our new Birth, the Fathers and old Interpreters of Scipture, beare up by generall Acclamation. I enterTert. lib de Baptiſmo cap. 1. Tertullian as their Orator: Nos Piſciculi ſecundùm〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉noſtrum Jeſum Chriſtum, in aqua naſcimur: We little Fiſhes, according to our Fiſh, Jeſus Chriſt, are Spiritually born in the Water. His explicit meaning as it depends upon Hiſtory, is:〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Jeſus Chriſt the Son of God, our Saviour, being the Motto or Title of Conſignation in all our Affairs, and by us gathered together in ſhort, according to the firſt and Head-Letters, into〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉is by you coagulated with ſcorn, and interpreted a Fiſh: who notwithſtanding is myſtically and Metaphorically67 our Fiſh; and we according to our myſticall Head thus intimated by theſe Head-Letters, are inwardly born with the Fiſhes in their ſecret Element expoſed to our mysticall Uſe.
THE ſecond objection is: If the Text declares for Baptiſm; either there is an halfe-Birth, and ſome are new-borne by halfes; or, all the Baptized ſhall enter into the Kingdome of God: quae ambo, ſunt inconvenientia.
I anſwer to the firſt Member: There is no halfe-Birth; neither are Baptized Children new-born by halfes. For: the whole worke of the new-Birth is compleated in them: They have, ſaving Faith you may call it, or Sanctifying Grace; and they are Juſtified. Only: They have not this Grace or Faith, quoad externum exercitium, according to outward exerciſe: the effect of all, being as yet immanent and inward. Becauſe, Quicquid recipitur, ad modnm recipientis recipitur: Whatſoever is received, is received and68 contained according to the manner and meaſure of the Receiver. And Children receiving the Life of Grace, when the corporeall Organs remain ſlatted, and lying mortuo modo, after a dead manner, in regard of ſuch high and lively performances: we may not expect exerciſe, untill teaching ſhall〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.2 Tim 1. 6. in Textu Graeco. ſtir up the gift and grace of God in them, by blowing the coale, hid and lying as dead, ſome while in the Aſhes: As the Fire〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which fell from Heaven, was nouriſhed and cheriſhed with the Suppliance of ordinary Matter and Helpes, by the Prieſts under the old Law.
For: Supernaturall Habits are outwardly manifeſted and explicated by naturall, outward and ordinanary Meanes: though Habits cannot be ſtrengthened inwardly or augmented, but with Acts of the ſame kinde.
A Coat for the body of a Child, may be a whole Coat, a ſit Coat, and a warme one, though it appears outwardly but a little Coat.
And as we draw Originall ſin69 from our Parents, ſo God our Heavenly Parent, in a due Time, takes us up de matre cadentes, falling from the Mother, and being uncleane; with a cleanſing Ordinance. And becauſe the Grace of Chriſt is, at the leaſt, as great as the Prevarication of Adam; they who are made guilty by the firſt Adam, may not be neglected by the ſecond: And therefore, his Viſible Ordinances are addreſſed towards them as ſoone as they Viſibly appeare in the world.
But the reverend and Politick Doctor objects for his Brethren theDoct. Taylor in his Liberty of propheſying. Sect. 18. Anabaptiſts: That, Grace being an improvement and heigthning of the Faculties of Nature, in order to a Supernaturall and moſt high End; hath no influence or Efficacy upon the Faculties of ſuch, who cannot reaſonably perform the naturall Acts of Underſtanding.
The Anſwer is: Grace in Children, perfects and heigthens the Faculties of their Souls, by cleanſing them, by adorning them for God, and conſequently by ſtating them in a capacity of their ſupernaturall End. For though as Aquinas admoniſhes:70 Fi•em oportet eſſe praecognitum Hominibus,D. Tho. p. 1. q. 1. art. 1. in corp. qui ſuas intentiones & actiones debent ordinare in Finem: It be neceſſary that the End ſhould be foreknown by Men, who ought to direct their intentions and actions to their End: Yet in Children, in whom, for their defect of Underſtanding, there can be no ſuch direction or dirig•ble Action; God Almighty directs and acts for them; and they are directed by him towards their Supernaturall End, Sicut Sagitta à Sagittante dirigitur verſus Scopum, as an Arrow is by the Archer directed towards the Mark; God working in and with all things, anſwerably to their being and capacity: and ſupplying, as the Supreme cauſe, their defects.
TO the other Member of the objection: Or, all the Baptized ſhall enter into the Kingdome of God: I anſwer: All fitly qualified for the whole effect of Baptiſm, and rightly Baptized, ſhall enter into the Kingdome of God; modò poſteà non ponant71 obicem, if afterwards they, on their own part, ſcatter no impediment in their own way.
Simon Magus hath no worke for a Cooper; (I deſpiſe no man whoſe Father is a Cooper; but if ſuch a one ſhall undertake to Hoope-binde his Hogſheads, or Bucking-Tubs, and not perform it ſtrongly; I ſhall merrily tell him of it:) becauſe he was not ſitly qualified, though Baptized. Act•8. 13.Ponder the Text: Then Simon himſelfe beleeved alſo: and when he was Baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondred, beholding the miracles and ſignes which were done. His Faith and Foundation was not ſound: therefore his Baptiſm and Superſtructure was not ſafe; he remaining ſtill unqualified: the fit qualification of an Adult, for the whole effect of Baptiſm, being Faith and Repentance.
The Divines have truly diſcovered foure Kindes of falſe Faith in true and Holy Scripture: The Faith of the Heretick: The Faith of the falſe Chriſtian: The Faith of the curious Perſon: The Faith of the Perſon unquiet or unſtable. All72 theſe have miſplaced and miſ-centred their Faith. Gueſſe now I beſeech you, which of theſe falſe Faiths, was the faithleſſe Faith of this falſe Dealer, Simon the Magitian. Surely: his Faith was the Faith, which, as the reſt, leanes not upon the Veracity of•od, the Revealer of Truth, in his Revelation; nor upon the well-groundedneſſe of the Church, the Pillar of Truth, in her Propoſition; but is generated and earth-begotten, when (this being its differentiall marke) the perſon is hurried on with a curious Motive of ſeeing Miracles: as the Scribes and Phariſees were, ſaying Maſter,Mat. 1•. 38. we would ſee a ſigne from thee: Of whom alſo St Paul: The Jews require1 Cor. 1. •2. a ſigne. And Herod was taintedLuk. 23. 18. in this kind.
This Faith was the broad-ey'd and ſtaring Child of Amazement and Amulement. And therefore, even the Apoſtles themſelves were deceived, etſi non i•materia Juris, in materia tamen Facti, though not in matter of Right or Law ▪ yet in matter of Fact.
But the Member here, ſerperastro cohibendum eſt, muſt be ſwathed73 up. The Alchymiſts uncertainly obtrudeAlchymiſtae. to us, to keep ſtreight their curious opinion of the Philoſophers Stone, and of the making of Gold; That Nature intendeth Gold in all Metals; and that if the Crudities, Leproſities, Impurities of Metals were cured; they would all evade into Gold. Certainly: God intends intentione primariâ, with his primary intention, that the Sacraments ſhould be rightly received by all the Receivers, (and that they ſhould all enter into the Kingdome of God;) and if they be not, the fault moſt commonly is in the Impurities, Leproſities, Crudities of the receivers; their impure Hereſie, their leprous Chriſtianity, their curious and unſtable Crudity.
He wils no man abſolutely from his entrance into the Kingdome of God. And that he foreknows the non-entrance of many, hath no forcible operation upon the Things foreknown: Sicut enim, as St Auſtin,S A•g. in ſent•nti••. S••. 379. nemo memoriâ ſuâ cogit facta eſſe quae praetereunt, ſic Deus praeſcientiâ ſuâ non cogit facienda quae futura ſunt: For as no Man by his remembring74 of things paſt, compels them intoVide quae ſequuntur apud Auguſtinum. a paſt being: So God by his preſcience and foreſight of things to come, forces them not into being hereafter. But he wils it conditionally, from the breach of his Condition in his Covenant with Man-kinde.
Divinely St Bernard: Rectè Deus non pater judiciorum vel Ul•ionumS. Bern. Serm. 8. in Natali Domini. dicitur, ſed pater Miſericordiarum, eò quòd miſerendi cauſ•m & originem ſumat ex proprio, judicandi vel ulciſcendi magis ex noſtro: God is rightly ſaid to be, not the Father of Judgements or of Revenges, but the Father of Mercies; becauſe he takes the cauſe and origin of ſhewing Mercy, from his own; but of judging and revenging from us.
And from the bottom of Reaſon: Reprobation is an Act of divine Hatred; and God hates nothing in man exept ſin; and therefore, doth not reprobate Man for any thing but for ſin.
TO right Baptiſm is required; ex parte Baptiſmi, vel Sacramenti75 on the part of Baptiſme or of the Sacrament: 1: right Matter: which is, naturall water, not artificiall as Roſewater & the like. And it muſt be water in its proper and ſimple Element, not compounded ▪ 2: right Form: As: I Baptize thee in the name of the FatherEccleſia O•cid•ntali•. and of the Son and of the Holy, Ghoſt, according to the received uſe of the Weſtern Churches: or, as theEccleſia Grae••, E•O…ales aliae quaedam. Church of Greece, and ſome other Orientall Churches; Baptizetur Servus Chriſti, talis, in nomine Patris, &c. Let the ſervant of Chriſt be Baptized (here he is named) in the Name of the Father, &c. For: the Grecians doe not attribute the Act of Baptiſm to the Miniſter Sacramenti, Minister ▪ of the Sacrament; that they may de induſtria, of ſet purpoſe, profeſſedly and practically condemn the old errour of thoſe who attributed the virtue of Baptiſm to the Baptizers, ſaying, I am of Paul, and I of Apollo, and I of Cephas. 1 Cor. 1. 12.
With a beame caſt upon theſe Requiſites on the part of the Sacrament, St Auſtin is doctrinall: AcceditS Aug. Tractat. 80. in J•an. Verbum ad Elementum, & fit76 Sacramentum; The Word is applyed to the Element