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ment pretends the Jews admitted. And, Thirdly, that there is no ground in history for fuppofing,that the Jews had such established cuftom in the ancient times here fuppofed. The Old Teftament is abfolutely filent about it; fo is the Apocrypha, fo is the New Teftament, fo are Jofephus and Philo, grave and credible hiftorians, who profeffedly treat of the antiquities and ceremonies of the Jews. Jofephus, in relating two cafes of profelytifm, mentions circumcifion only, and gives not the leaft intimation about a baptifm. The moft early chriftian writers appear to have had no knowledge of it. St. Paul, for a prelude to chriftian baptifm, fixes on the Ifraelites being baptized in the cloud, and in the fea, instead of hinting at this Jewish baptifm; which, if it was really the model of that appointed by Chrift, he had the faireft opportunity in the world of introducing fome account of, and could fcarce have failed to introduce. Upon what ground then, it may be asked, have learned men advanced and propagated a notion, that feems fo little credible? I anfwer, upon the bare authority of Talmudical books, not compofed till about three hundred years after Chrift, and ftuffed with blafphemies, full of stupid infatuation and wild romance, and upon whofe credit, if it was not invalidated by what has been already offered, no man, who wishes not to be impofed upon, would ever rely. And are these principles, from which to deduce duties of religion, on which to found pofitive inftitutions of God? If Jewish legends are to be the ground work of chriftian duties, the whole face of the gofpel may in time be fo mangled, and disfigured, as to bear nothing at all of the afpect of primitive and unadulterate Chriftianity. The laft inquiry which I proposed is,

Whether baptifm was intended as a temporary inftitution, and to be confined to profelytes only, or be of univerfal and perpetual obligation? And this is reduced to narrow limits, by my having already rendered highly improbable, the principle on which it has been chiefly attempted to be established, namely, the ancient practice, long before Chrift, of Jewish profelyte baptifm. I fhall therefore only observe further; that whether any inftitution of Chriftianity be temporary, or whether it ought to be confined to fome particular characters, can only be known one or other of these three ways: either by the express words of the institution itself; or from the nature

of

the thing, and the manifeft defign of it; or from the practice of Chrift and his Apostles.

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The first of thefe can, I think, never fully determine either of the two points; but if the words of the inftitu tion are either way conclufiye, it is, moft undoubtedly, on the fide of the perpetual duration of baptism, and the univerfal extent of its obligation. And if we confult the nature and ufes of this ordinance, we fhall find nothing that can lead us to conclude, that it was defigned to be only temporary, or to be confined to profelytes. On the contrary, all the ufes of it, that are specified in scripture, and the feveral expreffions, by which the true nature of it is there reprefented, appear to me to be equally applicable to every age of the church, and to all the believers of Chriftianity. Take baptifm either as a public profeffion of the chriftian religion, by a certain fignificant rite, which I take to be, in good part, the meaning of St. Paul, that as many as are baptized into Chrift, do put on Christ or confider it in St. Peter's notion of it, as the anfwer of a good confcience towards God; or if it be properly defcribed by the modern stile of a vifible admifTon into the chriftian church: I can fee no reafon, why it may not be as ufeful to one fort of Chriftians as to another; nor, confequently, why the use of it thould be limited to profelytes only. And in the practice of "Chrift and his apoffles, which must now be confidered as the only poffible foundation of this opinion, there is little ground for it: for how fhould we expect to meet with an account of the baptifm of any but profelytes in the hiftory of the Acts, which regards the firft propagation of Chriftianity, and the converts made to it, but gives very little account of the regulation and ftate of chriftian churches, after they were planted and effablished; or in the Epiftles, which were either written, upon Tome particular incidents, that happened in the churches; or againft dangerous errors that prevailed; or to give neceflary inftructions in cafes of exigency, and fuited to particular characters; but not to defcribe, minutely and fully, the conftitution and practice of the church?

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Upon the whole, fince there is fo great reafon to believe, that the ordinance of baptifm is of authority and force in all ages, and with refpect to all' Chriftians; let us honour God, by readily fubmitting to this law, which

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he hath prefcribed. And to thofe, in particular, who are fully convinced of their duty, but have hitherto failed in this part of their obedience, I beg leave to ad1 drefs myself in the words of Ananias to Saul, Acts xxii. 16. with which I fhall conclude. And now why tarrieft thou? Arife, and be baptized, and [fincerely repent ing] wash away thy fins, calling on the name of the Lord.

The END.

THE

NECESSITY

O F

BAPTISM,

IN ORDER TO

Church Membership

AND

CHRISTIAN COMMUNION,

SHEWN FROM CHRIST'S OWN WORDS,

JOHN iii. 3, 5.

IN TWO LETTERS

то

A LEARNED DIVINE.

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