BARNABAS,

"Let us now

In his catholic epistle, chapter xi. says, inquire whether the Lord took care to manifest any thing beforehand, concerning water and the cross. Now, for the former of these, it is written to the people of Israel, how they shall not receive that baptism which brings to forgiveness of sins, but shall institute another to themselves that cannot. For thus saith the prophet, "Be astonished, O heavens and let the earth tremble at it; because this people have done two great and wicked things: they have left me, the fountain of living waters, and have digged for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. Is my holy mountain, Zion, a desolate wilderness? For she shall be as a young bird when its nest is taken away." "Consider how he hath joined both the cross and the water together." For this he saith, "Blessed are they, who, putting their trust in the cross, descend into the water; for they shall have their reward in due time: then," saith he, "will I give it them." But, as concerning the present time, he saith, "Their leaves shall not fail." Meaning thereby, that every word that shall go out of your mouth shall, through faith and charity, be to the conversion and hope of many. In like manner does another prophet speak: "And the land of Jacob was the praise of all the earth;" magnifying thereby the vessels of his spirit. And what follows? "And there was a river running on the right hand, and beautiful trees grew up by it; and he that shall eat of them shall live for ever." The signification of which is this:that we go down into the river full of sins and pollutions; but come up again bringing forth fruit; having in our hearts the fear and hope which are in Jesus by the Spirit: "And whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." that is, whosoever shall hearken to those that call them, and shall believe, shall live for ever."

CLEMENT AND HERMAS.

The former gives no testimony on the subject. The latter deposes as follows:*

*Book of Similitudes, chap. xvi.

In speaking of a tower built upon the water, by which he signified the building of Christ's church, he thus speaks :"Hear, therefore, why the tower is built upon the waters :— Because your life is saved, and shall be saved, by water.” In answer to the question, Why did the stones come up into this tower out of the deep?" He says, "It was necessary for them to come up by (or through) water, that they might be at rest; for they could not otherwise enter into the kingdom of God; for, before any one receives the name of the Son of God, he is liable to death, but when he receives that seal, he is delivered from death, and assigned to life. Now that seal is water, into which persons go down liable to death, but come out of it assigned to life; for which reason to these also was this seal preached; and they made use of it that they might enter into the kingdom of God."

Both Clement and Hermas wrote about the end of the first, or beginning of the second century.

Hermas, moreover, deposes as follows, in another work of his, called "The Commands of Hermas."*

"And I said to him, I have even now heard from certain teachers, that there is no other repentance besides that of baptism, when we go down into the water, and receive the forgiveness of sins; and after that we should sin no more, but live in purity. And he said to me, Thou hast been rightly informed."

Having closely and repeatedly examined the epistles of Clement; of Polycarp, to the Phillipians; of Ignatius, to the Ephesians; that to the Magnesians; that to the Trallians, the Romans, the Philadelphians, the Smyrnians, and his epistle to Polycarp; together with the Catholic epistle of Barnabas, and the genuine works of Hermas, I can affirm that the preceding extracts are the only passages, in all these writings, that speak of immersion.

Having heard the apostolic fathers, as they are called, depose to the views of the pupils of the apostles, down to A. D. 140, I will summon a very learned Pedobaptist antiquarian, who can bring forward every writer and father, down to the fifth century; and before we hear any of his witnesses, we shall interrogate him concerning his own convictions after he had spent years in rumaging all Christian antiquity :

*Com. 4. chap. iii.

TESTIMONY OF DR. W. WALL, AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF INFANT BAPTISM.

Pray, Doctor, have you examined all the primitive writers, from the death of John down to the fifth century? W. Wall. I have.

And will you explicitly avow what was the established and universal view of all christians, public and private, for four hundred years from the nativity of the Messiah, on the import of the saying, (John iii. 5,)" Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God ?"

W. Wall. "There is not any one Christian writer, of any antiquity, in any language, but who understands it of baptism; and if it be not so understood, it is difficult to give an account how a person is born of water, any more than born of wood.”*

Did all the christians, public and private, and all the Christian writers from Barnabas to the times of Pelagius, (419,) as far as you know, continue to use the term regenerate, as only applicable to immersion ?

W. Wall. "The christians did, in all ancient times, continue the use of this name "regeneration," for baptism; so that they never use the word "regenerate," or "born again,” but they mean, or denote by it, baptism. And almost all the quotations which I shall bring in this book, shall be instances of it."+

Did they not also substitute for "baptism" and "baptize," the words renewed, sanctified, sealed, enlightened, initiated, as well as regenerated?

W. Wall. "For to baptize, they use the following words:-Most commonly, anagennao, to regenerate; sometimes, kainopoieo, or anakainizo, to renew; frequently, agiazo, to sanctify. Sometimes they call it the seal; and frequently, illumination, as it is also called, Heb. vi. 4, and sometimes, teliosis, initiation." "St. Austin, not less than a hundred times, expresses baptized by the word sanctified."§

We shall now hear some of W. Wall's witnesses; and 1 choose rather to introduce them from his own pen, as he cannot be supposed partial to the views I have presented in this essay :

* 4th London edition, p. 116, vol. 1. A. D. 1829.

Vol. 1. p. 8.

+ Vol. 1. p. 24.

§ Page 194.

JUSTIN MARTYR.

Justin Martyr wrote about forty years after John the apostle died, and stands most conspicuous among the primitive fathers. He addressed an apology to the Emperor Antoninus Pius. In this apology he narrates the practices of the christians, and the reasons of them. Concerning those who are persuaded and believe the things which are taught, and who promise to live according to them, he writes

"Then we bring them to some place where there is water, and they are regenerated by the same way of regeneration by which we are regenerated: for they are washed in water (en to udati) in the name of God the Father, and Lord of all things, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit for Christ says, Unless you be regenerated, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven; and every body knows it is impossible for those who are once generated (or born) to enter again into their mother's womb.

"It was foretold by Isaiah, as I said, by what means they who should repent of their sins might escape them; and was written in these words, "Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil," &c.

66

And we have been taught by the apostles this reason for this thing. Because we, being ignorant of our first birth, were generated by necessity (or course of nature), and have been brought up in all customs and conversation; that we should not continue children of that necessity and ignorance, but of will (or choice) and knowledge, and should obtain forgiveness of the sins in which we have lived, by water (or in water.) Then is invoked over him that has a mind to be regenerated, the name of God the Father, &c. And this washing is called the enlightening."

As you trace the history of infant baptism, Mr. Wall, as nigh the apostolic times as possible, pray why do you quote Justin Martyr, who never mentions it?

W. Wall. "Because his is the most ancient account of the way of baptizing next the Scripture; and shews the plain and simple manner of administering it. Because it shews that the christians of those times (many of whom lived in the days of the apostles) used the word " regeneration" (or being born again) for baptism; and that they were taught to do so by the apostles. And because we see by it that they understood John iii. 5, of water baptism;

and so did all the writers of these four hundred years, NOT ONE MAN EXCEPTED."-p. 54.

Did any of the ancients use the word matheteulo (to disciple) as it is used in the commission; or did they call the baptized discipled P

W. Wall. "Justin Martyr, in his second apology to Antonius, uses it. His words are:-"Several persons among us, of sixty and seventy years old, of both sexes, who were discipled (matheteueo) to Christ, in or from their childhood, do continue uncorrupted."-p. 54.

So soon as they began to mysticise, they began to teach that immersion without faith would obtain remission of sins, and that immersion without faith was regeneration. Then came the debates about original sin: and so soon as original sin was proved, then came the necessity of infant immersion for the remission of original sin. And so undisputed was the import of baptism for remission, that when the Pelagians denied original sin, pressed with the difficulty, "why immerse those who have no sins ?" they were pushed to invent actual sins for infants; such as their crying, peevishness, restlessness, &c., on account of which sins they supposed that infants might with propriety be immersed, though they had no original sin.

TERTULLIAN.

Tertullian, the first who mentions infant baptism, flourished about A. D. 216. He writes against the practice: and among his most conclusive arguments against infant immersion, (for then there was no sprinkling,) he assumes, as a fundamental principle not to be questioned, that immersion was for the remission of sins; and this being universally conceded, he argues as follows:

"Our Lord says, 'Do not forbid them to come to me;' therefore, let them come when they are grown up-let them come when they understand-when they are instructed whither it is that they come. Let them be made christians when they can know Christ. What need their guiltless age make such haste to the forgiveness of sins? Men will proceed more warily in worldly goods; and he that should not have earthly goods committed to him, yet shall have heavenly! Let them know how to desire this salvation, that you may appear to have given to one that asketh."-p. 74.