Tract No. 76 (Ad Populum)
Considering the confidence and zeal with which modern and unscriptural views on the subject of Christian Baptism are put forth at the present time, it will not be unseasonable to present the reader with some testimonies from the writings of Anglican Divines in behalf of the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. By this doctrine is meant, first, that the Sacrament of Baptism is not a mere sign or promise, but actually a means of grace, an instrument, by which, when rightly received, the soul is admitted to the benefits of Christ’s Atonement, such as the forgiveness of sin, original and actual, reconciliation to God, a new nature, adoption, citizenship in Christ’s kingdom, and the inheritance of heaven,—in a word, Regeneration. And next, Baptism is considered to be rightly received, when there is no positive obstacle or hindrance to the reception in the recipient, such as impenitence or unbelief would be in the case of an adult; so that infants are necessarily right recipients of it, as not being yet capable of actual sin. So much as these two positions is certainly held by every one of the authors of the following passages, though it is impossible to bring out their full meaning in such brief extracts, however carefully selected.
There is a variety of questions connected with the subject beyond the two positions above set down, on which the writers under review differ more or less from each other, but not so as in the slightest degree to interfere with their clear and deliberate maintenance of these. Such, for instance, as the following:—Whether grace be given in and through the water, or only contemporaneously with it. Again, whether Baptism, strictly speaking, conveys the blessings annexed to it, or simply admits into a state gifted with those blessings, as being the initiatory rite of the covenant of mercy. Or, again, whether or not Baptism, besides washing away past sin, admits into a state in which, for sins henceforth committed, Repentance stands in place of a Sacrament, so as to ensure forgiveness without specific ordinance; or whether the Holy Eucharist is that ordinance; or whether the full and explicit absolution of sin after Baptism is altogether put off till the day of judgment. Or, again, there may be difference of opinion as to the state of infants dying unbaptized. Or, again, whether Regeneration is an instantaneous work completed in Baptism, or admits of degrees and growth. Or, again, whether or not the Holy Spirit can utterly desert a soul once inhabited by Him, except to quit it for ever. Or, whether the change in the soul made by Baptism is indelible, for good or for evil; or may be undone, as if it had never been. Or, how far the enjoyment of the grace attached to it is suspended on the condition of our doing our part in the covenant. All these are questions, far from unimportant, but which do not at present come into consideration; the one point, maintained in the following extracts, being, that infants are by and at baptism unconditionally translated from a state of wrath into a state of grace and acceptance for Christ’s sake.
| List of Authors cited. | |
| 1. Jewell | 22. Scott |
| 2. Hooker | 23. Jenkin |
| 3. Andrews | 24. Sherlock |
| 4. Donne | 25. Wall |
| 5. Field | 26. Potter |
| 6. Jackson | 27. Nelson |
| 7. Laud | 28. Waterland |
| 8. Bramhall | 29. Kettlewell |
| 9. Hammond | 30. Hickes |
| 10. Taylor | 31. Johnson |
| 11. Heylin | 32. Leslie |
| 12. Allestrie | 33. Wilson |
| 13. Barrow | 34. Bingham |
| 14. Thorndike | 35. Skelton |
| 15. Pearson | 36. Horne |
| 16. Bull | 37. Jones |
| 17. Comber | 38. Heber |
| 18. Ken | 39. Jebb |
| 19. Patrick | 40. Van Mildert |
| 20. Beveridge | 41. Mant |
| 21. Sharp |
N. B. It would be easy to extend this list, were it necessary: vid. Cosin’s Devotions, Stanhope’s Boyle Lectures, &c.
Jewell, Bishop.—Treatise on Sacraments
“They (the sacraments) are not bare signs; it were blasphemy so to say. The grace of God doth always work with His sacraments; but we are taught not to seek that grace in the sign, but to assure ourselves by receiving the sign, that it is given us by the thing signified. We are not washed from our sins by the water, we are not fed to eternal life by the bread and wine, but by the precious blood of our Saviour Christ, that lieth hid in these sacraments.” p. 263.