By baptism, converts make a public profession of their faith in Christ, and in his religion ; and are ad mitted into that family of which he is the head. 1 Cor. xii. 13. As water, likewise, in scripture is an emblem of the spirit, the water of baptism, clear ly, though figuratively, informs them, that they ought, through the spirit, to maintain that purity of heart and rectitude of conduct, which are congenial to the purity of their religion, and the rectitude of its au thor. Tit. iii. 5. Rom. vi. 4. But lest we should imagine that this rite works like a charm, we arc said toba saved, not by putting away the filth of the flesh, but by the answer of a good conscience ; 1 Pet. iii. 21. The influence of baptism, therefore, in sanc tifying the heart, must be of a moral nature, and will be easily understood, when we reflect, that every one who dedicates himself to God must be induced, by every motive of duty, of interest, and of honour, to purify himself, even as Christ is pure. But soon af ter the age of the apostles, many began to imagine that the mere performance of this ceremony procured egeneration and the pardon of sin. Tertullian taught that the holy spirit was always given in baptism ; Chrysostom, that the water became unfit for drink ing, and drowned the devil ; • and Augustin, that it washed away original sin. Hence arose the opinion that baptism was absolutely necessary to salvation, and that all infants who died unbaptized were inevi tably damned. This opinion, however, was so re pugnant to the feelings of nature, to the dictates of reason, and to the moral attributes of God, that it never universally prevailed. When, therefore, the administration of baptism was impossible, men were allowed to entertain some faint hopes of future hap piness. In some cases, likewise, the want of baptism was compensated by the performance of other duties. Such were martyrdom, called the baptism of blood ; repentance, called the baptism of fire ; and constant communicating, when a person had been admitted to the Lord's supper on a supposition of his having been baptized. But as these substitutes were thought dangerous, recourse was had, in doubtful cases, to hypothetical baptism, in this form : If thou art bap tized, I do not re-baptize thee ; but if thou art not baptized, I baptize thee in the name, &c. Baptism of the dead was another expedient practised by the African church : to which may be added, baptism for the dead, performed in this manner : When a catechumen died, the priest advanced to the bed and asked him if he desired baptism: upon this, a man, who had been concealed under the bed, answered, that he would be baptized in his stead ; which was accordingly done. But as no expedients could be devised for washing away the original sin of infants, their case was thought almost hopeless. It might have been expected, that the mild and generous de claration of our Saviour, Matth. xviii. 14. would have led them to a very different conclusion • yet Gre gory Nazianzen, and Severus, bishop of Antioch, who entertained the most favourable hopes of them, assigned them only a middle state. Pelagius, how ever, and his numerous followers, by denying ori ginal sin, declared them capable of salvation. The church of Rome assert that baptism always confers grace, and justification ; but the Arminians and So cinians allow it only to be a sign of grace. The church of England do not positively maintain the necessity of baptism to salvation; though the `.7th of their articles seems to imply it. The church of Scot land call it a seal of the covenant of grace, of rege neration, &c. but do not think it absolutely neces sary to salvation. Some have thought that it be stows immortality upon the soul : of this number was Dodwell, who also maintained, that only episcopal baptism could bestow this blessing.
The dispute, which has long agitated the church, concerning the proper subjects of baptism, is, unhap pily, not yet terminated. Whilst some contend that
the infant children of Christian parents have a right to baptism, others maintain that this right belongs only to those who have been instructed in the reli gion of Jesus, and profess their belief in his name. But though, at the first propagation of Christianity, all who were admitted to baptism must have been of the latter description, yet when the foundations of the church were laid, the children of believers were, no doubt, admitted before they were capable of per sonal belief. As Tertullian, about the end of the second century, condemns infant baptism, it has been asserted, that that practice must have then prevailed in the Carthaginian church. But as the children, mentioned by 'lertullian, are said to ask baptism for themselves, it is probable that they were not infants in the strict sense of the word. It is an undoubted fact, however, that about 50 years after, in the time of Cyprian, children as soon as born were allowed to be baptized by the council of Carthage. But what is still more to the point, the scriptures inform us, that children were introduced into the church of God by circumcision, from the time of Abraham till the advent of Christ ; and as baptism came in the room of circumcision, children ought still to be in troduced in the same manner as before. That bap tism came in the room of circumcision, will appear from the reasoning of Paul. It is admitted that our Lord's supper was instituted instead of the passover, because that apostle says, That Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, and therefore we ought to keep the feast. But when the same apostle says, That we are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, buried with Christ in baptism ; we have the same reason to conclude that baptism was instituted instead of circumcision. It ought to be remarked, however, that it was instituted, not instead of that cir cumcision which was appointed at mount Sinai, and which composed part of the law of ceremonies be longing to the covenant of works made there ; but in stead of that circumcision which was instituted 480 years before, Gal. iii. 17. when God commanded A braham to leave his country, and which, as Paul ex pressly declares, belonged to the covenant of redemp tion. This circumcision, therefore, and the baptism of Christ, were initiatory rites of the same covenant at different periods. But the change in the initiatory rite made no change in the subjects of the covenant... This, then, accounts for the silence of scripture re specting infant baptism. Children were introduced into the church of God in the days of Abraham, at the coming of Christ,. and at the present day. When things are to remain unaltered, a command-for them to do so, would not only be superfluous, it would be foolish. But when a change is to take place, a com mand, or, at least, a precedent to authorise it, is ab solutely necessary. Since, therefore, neither com mand nor precedent to this purpose is found in scrip ture, children ought not to be excluded from that covenant into which they undoubtedly were once ad mitted. • Before we leave this branch of the subject, we. may remark, that as certain employments were thought, in ancient times, not only dishonourable, but unlaw ful, such persons as professed them were excluded from baptism. Of this description were magicians, image-makers, gladiators, stage players, public dri vers, and even strolling beggars. We are sorry to add, that the generous maxim of our Saviour, " What soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," seems not to have been remember ed by his followers, when they decreed, That the slaves of Christians should not be baptized without the approbation of their masters ; but that the slaves of heathens, Jcws, and heretics, should not only be baptized without the consent of their masters, but should, by baptism, obtain their freedom.