"Many walk, of whom I
have told you often--who mind earthly things." --Phil. 3:18.
1. The fourth century
commenced with outward peace to the church; but the pagan priests
wrought so effectually on the fears of Diocletian, as to obtain
from him, in 303, an edict to pull down the sanctuaries of
Christians, to burn their books and writings, and to take from
them all their civil rights and privileges, to render them
incapable of any honors or civil promotion. Other orders were
issued of a more sanguinary character; the magistrates employed
all kinds of tortures, and the most unsupportable punishments
were invented, to force Christians to apostatize--and the
ministers of religion were in particular the objects of the
emperors aversion. The severity and indecent measures
adopted, with their continuance for two years, were likely to
have proved fatal to the Christian interest. In 306, Constantine,
surnamed the Great, was saluted emperor by the army, and the
aspect of affairs towards the Christian church was soon changed;
and in 325, the old corrupt interests were incorporated by an act
of the emperors from which union we dissent.
2. In 251, there were
forty-four Jewish Christian congregations in Rome. Till the
time of Sylvester, the Christians had baptized either in private
baths, or in subterranean waters, or in any place without the
city. The emperor Constantine gave Bishop SYLVESTER the imperial
mansion for a sort of parsonage-house: and here was erected the
first artificial baptistery in Rome. From this period, at proper
seasons of the year, all their catechumens went to be baptised at
the Lateran baptistery. Other churches looked to the bishop, who
presided over the Lateran congregation and the baptistery;
consulted him about the times of baptism, or administering the
ordinance, and the regulation of other ecclesiastical affairs.
This mode of proceeding in consulting the bishop, led to the
destruction of civil and religious liberty, and ruined the
independency of the churches. [Walls Inf. Bap. vol. ii., p.
352; Robin. Hist. Bap. p. 345]
3. It might appear to some
readers, that the testimonies of early baptisms, as adduced
above, are few in number for three centuries; many more allusions
to the ordinance could be given, yet it should be remembered that
while there existed an harmony among the churches, on the mode
and subject of baptism, and all parties were regulated by the
scriptures, there was no necessity for the churches to record
their views of baptism; but when the ordinance became diverted
from the believer, we find an increase of witnesses, recording
the ancient way, and testifying against the innovation. It is
in the fourth century our testimonies increase; and the following
plain and consecutive declarations are no obscure evidence as to
the period when infant baptism assumed a decided station in
Christian assemblies. This evidence is corroborated by the first
recorded fact of a youths baptism: Galetes, the dying son
of Valens, A.D. 370, already mentioned.
4. The following
testimonies of the Fathers have outlived the ravages of time; no
doubt thousands of voices were raised against the incoming abuse,
and many things were said and written on baptism, that had only
an ephemeral existence. Some of the subjoined writers
advocated baptismal regeneration; and those views led to baptize
youth and minors, with infants, at a later period.
HILARY, Bishop of Poictiers,
in France, prayeth, "Oh, living Lord, preserve my faith, and
the testimony of my conscience; so that I may always keep what I
have confessed in the sacrament of my regeneration, when I was
baptized in the name of," &c. [Danvers Treat., p.
65]
ATHANASIUS, Bishop of
Alexandria, says, "Our Lord did not slightly command to
baptize; for first of all he said, teach, and then, baptize, that
true faith might come by teaching, and baptism be perfected by
faith."
EPHRIAM SYRUS relates that,
in his time, "It was the custom, when any one was baptized,
to declare they did forsake the devil and all his works,
adultery," &c.; also, that "the baptized used to
confess their sins, and testify their faith, before many
witnesses." [Bap. Mag., v.i., p. 212]
JEROM OR HIEROM, a presbyter
in Dalmatia, observes on Matt. 28:19. "They first teach all
nations, then, when they are taught, they baptise them with
water; for it cannot be, that the body should receive the
sacrament of baptism, unless the soul have before received the
true faith." [Walls Hist. p. 2, c. 1, p. 7] He
declares, "that in the eastern churches, the adult only were
baptized;" also, "that they are to be admitted to
baptism to whom it doth belong: viz., those only who have been
instructed in the faith." [Danvers Treat. p. 67] He
also appealed to his auditory, and remarked, "When you were
baptised, did you not swear allegiance to Christ, and that you
would spare neither father nor mother for his sake?"
[Morriss Biog., v.i., 377]
BASIL, BISHOP OF CAESAREA,
addresses his hearers with, "Do you demur, and loiter, and
put off baptism, when you have been from a child catechized in
the word--are you not acquainted with the truth?"
[Walls Hist., p. 1, c. 12, p. 148] He declares, "One
must believe first, and then be sealed with baptism." [Id.
p. 2, c. 1, p. 7] "Must the faithful be sealed with baptism?
Faith must needs precede, and go before." Again, "None
is to be baptised but the catechumens, and those who are duly
instructed in the faith." [Danvers Treat., p. 65] He
observes, "Faith and baptism are two means of salvation
nearly allied, and inseparable; for faith is perfected by
baptism, and baptism is rounded on faith: * * * and the
confession which leads us to salvation goes before, and baptism,
which seals our covenant, follows after." [Stennetts
Answer to Russen, p. 90] Dr. Wall remarks on the address of Basil
to his auditory, "Part of Basils auditory at this time
were such as had been from their childhood instructed in the
Christian religion, and consequently in all probability born of
Christian parents, and yet not baptized."
[Inf. Bap., p. 1, c. 12, p.
148. Basil was a great advocate for trine immersion, a custom
which prevailed in the church for centuries. Baronius Ann. v.
viii., p. 30, fol. Walls Hist. 2, 384. Binghams
Antiq. v.i., b. 10, c. 3, ~4. Baptism was so much in vogue in the
early ages, that one class of professors, the Hemerobaptists,
religiously dipped themselves every day: Gales Reflec. p.
136. Mosh. Hist. v. iii., p. 189. Robinsons Bap. 33. Modern
Paedobaptists assert, that baptism by immersion cannot be proved
to have been the early mode.--Evan. Mag., v. xxii., p. 104;
Congre. Mag., 1824; Alb. Barness Notes on Rom. 6:4. We
would ask those persons who are so hardly driven to maintain
their rite, what proof they require? Scripture is supported by
authenticated facts for ages; yet all evidence on this point,
with them, amounts to nothing. The opposers of the Bible are
constantly demanding proof of those miracles recorded, of a
Providence, &c. Errors of all degrees borrow the same
weapons! It is to be regretted, Paedobaptism lends its aid in so
many ways to the opposers of vital religion, and unites in
destroying the testimonies of the most accredited historians,
weakens the authority of Scripture, and endeavors to lessen the
creatures fealty to his Savior. All early churches
immersed; the Grecians, Russians, Armenians, Prussians,
Abyssinians, &c. &c., do so to this day, and thousands of
incidental and correlative circumstances on record, with the
direct statements of early and modern historians, and the
concessions of later writers, which will be detailed, prove, if
any fact admits of proof, that believers, before admitted to
fellowship, in any early primitive church, were immersed once or
thrice, on a profession of faith; and that there is no trace of
infant baptism in early scriptural communities.]
The emperor Valens sent for
Basil, in 370, to baptise his dying son, Galetes: the ground of
the request was the illness of the youth. The above extracts from
Basils works show he could not confer the ordinance without
a profession of faith: and, from Foxs account, it appears
he did not baptize the child, but that the rite was administered
by an Arian bishop.
CHRYSOSTOM, bishop of
Constantinople, asserted that "the time of grace was the
time of baptism, which was the season the three thousand, in the
second of Acts, and the five thousand afterwards, were
baptized." Again, "to be baptized and plunged into the
water, and then to emerge or rise out of it again, is a symbol of
our descent into the grave, and of our ascent out of it; and,
therefore, Paul calls baptism a burial, when he says we are
buried with him." [Stennetts Ans., p. 145. Chrysostom
baptized youths with their parents, all in a state of nudity.
Walls Inf. Bap., p. 2, c. 9, S 3. Bing. Antiq., v.i., b.
11, c. 11, ~1]
SIRICIUS, bishop of Rome,
declares "that those only should be admitted [to baptism]
who have given in their names forty days or more before Easter,
and have been cleansed by exorcisms, and daily prayers, and
fastings, to the end that that precept of the apostle may be
fulfilled, of purging out the old leaven that there may be a new
lump." [Walls Hist., p. 1, c. 17, p. 250]
CYRIL, bishop of Jerusalem,
exhorts his auditory, "not to go to baptism as the guest in
the gospel who had not on the wedding garment; but having their
sins first washed away by repentance, they might be found worthy
at the marriage of the Lamb. You must prepare yourselves by
purifying the conscience, and not consider the external baptism,
but the inward grace that is imparted by it, for the water is
sanctified by invocation. The water washes the body, but the
Spirit sanctifies the soul; and being thus purified, we are made
meet to draw near to God. If any one be baptized without having
the Holy Spirit, he receives not the grace of baptism; and if any
one receive not baptism, he cannot be saved."
Candidates," he says, "are first anointed with
consecrated oils; they are then conducted to the laver, and asked
three times if they believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;
then they are dipped three times into the water, and retire out
of it by three distinct efforts." [Dupins Ec. Hist.,
c. 4, v. ii., pp. 109-113]
GREGORY, BISHOP OF NAZIANZEN,
says, "Baptism consists in two things, the water and the
Spirit; that the washing the body with water represents the
operation of the Spirit in purifying the soul." He asserts
baptism to be, "a compact which we make with God, by which
we oblige ourselves to lead a new life." He remarks,
"there are three different classes of persons that receive
baptism, and there are three sorts who do not receive
baptism;--the impious and vicious, who have no relish for it;
others delay for liberty to sin; the last are those who cannot
receive it, either because of their infancy, or some
accident." [Dupin, c. 4, p. 171] He asserts "the
baptized used in the first place to confess their sins, and to
renounce the devil and all his works, before many
witnesses;" and "they were prepared for baptism, by
watchings, fastings, prayer, alms-deeds, restitution of
ill-gotten goods;" and that, "none were baptized of
old, but they that did so confess their sins." He shows
also, the necessity of keeping the baptismal vow, and that
"the most acceptable posture, or preparation to receive it,
is a heart inflamed with a desire for it." [Walls
Hist., v. i. c. 11, p. 112; Orat. in Bapt. Mag., v. 1, p. 212]
Again, "We are buried with Christ by baptism, that we may
also rise again with him; we ascend with him, that we may also be
glorified together." [Stennetts Ans. p. 144]
GREGORY, BISHOP OF NYSSA,
asserts, "In baptism, there are three things which conduct
us to immortal life, Prayer, Water, and Faith. That the
regeneration wrought in baptism ought not to be attributed to the
water, but to a divine virtue; that by dipping the person under
water three times, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is
represented; that without baptism no man can be washed from sin.
[Dupin. c. 4, p. 178]
AMBROSE, Bishop of Milan,
speaking of baptism, says, "there were three questions
propounded, and three answers or confessions made, without which
none can be baptized;" [Morriss Biog. v. i. p. 356] *
* * "at last you are introduced into the place where the
sacrament of baptism is administered, you are obliged to renounce
the devil and all his works, the world, and all its pomps and
allurements. You found in this place the water and a priest who
consecrated the waters; the body was plunged into this water to
wash away sin; the Holy Ghost descended upon this water; you
ought not to fix your mind upon the external part of it, but to
consider in it a divine virtue." [Dupin, c. 4, p. 214,
&c.] He asserts, "Thou wast asked, Dost thou believe in
God the Father Almighty? thou saidst, I do believe, and wast
dipped, that is, buried. Thou wast asked again, Dost thou believe
on our Lord Jesus Christ, and his crucifixion? thou saidst, I
believe, and wast dipped again, and so wast buried with Christ.
Thou wast interrogated the third time, Dost thou believe in the
Holy Spirit? thou answeredst, I believe, and wast dipped a third
time." [Stennetts Ans. p. 144, and Cox on Bap. p. 48]
EPIPHANIUS, BISHOP OF
SALAMIS, wrote on 80 heresies in the Christian church; he speaks
of faith, as a disposition necessary to the receiving of baptism.
He does not charge any class of professors with the error of
conferring the ordinance without a profession of faith. [Dupin,
c. 4, p. 234, &c.] Epiphanius, with others, does not mention
any thing concerning infant baptism. [Walls Hist. p. 1. c.
21, p. 411, ~ 4]
AUGUSTIN, or Austin, Bishop
of Hippo, in Africa, says, "It is evident that men who still
persevered in sins, desired to be baptized; and there were those
who supported their unreasonable wishes, and thought it
sufficient to teach them after baptism how they ought to live,
still holding out a hope to their minds, that they might be saved
as by fire, because they had been baptized. True saving faith
works by love; that the instruction of catechumen includes morals
as well as doctrines; that the labor of catechising is exceeding
profitable to the church; and that persons ought to be catechized
before they receive baptism, that they may know how vain it is to
think of being saved without holiness: as in the case of the
eunuch who was catechized before he was baptized. [Miln. Hist. of
the Ch., C. 5, c. 7] Augustins view of original sin led
many to inquire how it could be taken away from those who could
not believe; the answer was, that sin was removed in baptism:
consequently, this view of baptism drove him into paedobaptism,
and infants became as eligible in his view, as minors and youths
had been for the last century. Augustin, to enforce his views of
infant salvation by water, called an assembly, of which we shall
speak hereafter. [Rob. Bap. c., 23]
5. We here subjoin a few
extracts from those early assemblies of ministers, commonly
called councils; and the rules they adopted called canons.
The council of Elvira, or
Granada, enjoins a delay of baptism if the catechumi act worldly:
also adultery and intermarriages should be checked, and ministers
of religion should not have strange women with them.
[Dupins Hist. c. 14, p. 242]
The council of Neocessarea,
in the sixth canon, saith, "That confession and free choice
were necessary to baptism." [Magde. Cent. in Danvers,
p. 68]
The council of Laodicea
required notice from the person who intended to be baptized, and
resolved all should be instructed before they received it;
[Dupin, c. 4, p. 262] and determined that the baptized should
rehearse the articles of the creed. [Magd. Cent. in
Danvers, p. 68]
The council of Constantinople
decreed that certain persons should remain a long time under
scriptural instruction, before they receive baptism. [Dupin, c.
4, p. 273]
The council of Carthage, in
canon 34, declares, that "sick persons shall be baptized,
who cannot answer any longer, when those who are by them testify
that they desired it." Again, "those who have no
testimonials, and do not remember that they were baptized, shall
be baptized anew." [Dupin c. 4, p. 279]
The council of Carthage, in
canon 85, enjoins, that catechumens shall give in their names,
and be prepared for baptism. That the clergy should not cohabit
with strange women; that they should not go to fairs; that those
ministers shall be degraded who are traitors, and those who speak
lascivious words be removed; that those be reprimanded who swear
by the creature! [Dupin, c. 4, p. 282] These clergy prepare us
for the next declaration.
The fifth council of
Carthage, in canon 76, declares children ought to be baptized.
[Id. p. 288]
The council of Mela, in
Numidia, in Africa, enjoin Christians to baptize their infants
[Rob. Bap. p. 216] for forgiveness of sin, and curse all who deny
the doctrine. [Walls Hist., p. 1, c. 19, sec. 37, p. 372,
&c.]
At Girona, in Spain, seven
men of different provinces made the first European rule for
infant baptism. [Rob. Hist. of Baptism, p. 270]
Charles the Great, in 789,
issued the first law in Europe for baptizing infants. [Id. p.
283, ch. 26]
6. To strengthen those
testimonies as to the early subjects and mode of baptism, we
shall merely run through some miscellanies, confirmatory of our
practice.
The Greek word baptize,
regulates all the Grecian and eastern churches in dipping. The
Mahometans baptize by immersion, and have every conveniency for
that purpose. References to rivers at an early period, imply the
way of administering the ordinance among Christians. Many
paintings are extant, representing the act of immersion. The
extensive and beautiful buildings erected, with their apartments
and apparatus, prove the mode to have been dipping, and the
subjects, men and women. The clothes worn, and the officers in
attendance on these occasions, support the same views. Records
mention persons and youths having been drowned in baptisteries;
and immersion in those places has been attended with those
casualties which are too delicate to record, and circumstances
which would now be deemed reproachful. The canon law required for
ages trine immersion, with creeds and rituals, which expressed
the subject and described the mode. Sermons were addressed to all
catechumens, after long preparation; and orations were delivered
to candidates, with homilies expressive and confirmatory of the
same things. Inscriptions, mottoes, and poetry, convey the same
information. The earliest reformers scripturally administered the
ordinance; while the German and other revivers of religious
knowledge, with every respectable historian, admit, on record,
the early practice to have been believers immersion, and
dipping is now continued by all those nations not subject to the
authority of the pope.
7. The record of children
born of Christian parents, and yet not baptized during infancy,
we next subjoin.
BASIL, son of Basil, bishop
of Nicene, and his wife, Eumele, whose grandfather was a martyr,
was tenderly educated like a second Timothy, under his gracious
mother. He became a learned man, and a great preacher, and was
baptized in Jordan, by Maximinus, a bishop. [Danvers Treat.
pp. 69--71] Also Chrysostom, Jerom, of Strydon, Theodore, the
emperor [Gibbons Ro. Hist., c. 27, vol. v.p. 12], Gregory
Nazianzen, Augustine, Ambrose, [Danv. Treat. 70] Polycrates
[Gales Reflect. p. 470], Nectaries [Danvers Treat. p.
72, and Rob. Hist. of Bap. Ch. 13, ~ 5, p. 67], the emperor
Constantine, with other nobles.
Dr. Field observes, on the
histories of these great men, [Danvers Treat., p. 72;
Dailles Use of the Fathers, b. 2, ch. 6, Reas. 6, p. 149]
"that very many that were born of Christian parents (in the
fourth and fifth centuries), delayed their baptism for a long
time, insomuch, that many were made bishops before they were
baptized. The same views are supported by Beatus Rhenanus, and
Mr. Den; the latter mentions Pancratius, Pontius, Nazarius,
Tecla, Luigerus, Erasma Tusca, all offsprings of believers, and
yet not baptized till aged. Similar observations are made by the
learned Daille and Dr. Barlow.
[Since these names, with
others which could be recorded, are some of the most
distinguished for respectability, in the annals of history, one
plain evidence enforces itself upon our attention, that
Paedobaptism was unknown among royalty, courtiers, and
respectable persons in Europe, at the period of these eminent
mens births.]
The great champion for infant
baptism, Dr. W. Wall, remarks, "It seems to me that the
instances which the Baptists give of persons not baptized in
infancy, though born of Christian parents, are not (if the matter
of fact be true) so inconsiderable as this last plea [the sayings
of the Fathers] would represent. On the contrary, the persons
they mention are so many, and such NOTED persons, that (if they
be allowed) it is an argument that leaving children unbaptized
was no unusual, but a frequent and ordinary thing. For it is
obvious to conclude, that if we can in so remote an age trace the
practice of so many that did this; it is probable that a great
many more of whose birth and baptism we do not read did the like.
This I will own, that it seems to me the argument of the greatest
weight of any that is brought on the Baptist side in this dispute
about antiquity." [History of Inf. Bap. p. 2, S 16, p. 42]
We conclude this chapter with
the words of Curcelleus, "Paedobaptism was not known in
the world the two first ages after Christ, in the third and
fourth it was approved by few; at length, in the fifth and
following ages, it began to obtain in divers places; and,
therefore, we (paedobaptists) observe this rite indeed, as an
ancient custom, but not as an apostolic tradition. The custom of
baptizing infants did not begin before the third age after
Christ, and that there appears not the least footstep of it for
the first two centuries." [Stennetts Ans., &c., p.
87]
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