denied, that the investment of it must be by baptism. Such Church membership is supposed to be proved, as follows.

There was mentioned in the lecture, the saying of Christ, in Mark x. 14-" Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." It is not denied, that the expression" the kingdom of God," is another name for the Church on earth. And therefore, his command to suffer little children to come to him, with the reason for it, must mean the same as the acknowledging of them to be fit members of that body. It will be to no purpose, to distinguish between babes and little children of the supposed age of those who were brought to Christ. None imagine, that they had reached a time of life, adequate to the understanding of their part of the baptismal covenant: for in that case, there would have been no plausible excuse for the errour of the disciples, in forbidding the approach of the infant applicants. They must have been of an age, at which none who hold the obligation of baptism, but object to the extending of it to infants, would presume to speak of their own children as having come to Christ, or as being members of his Church. Accordingly, there is an important difference between this society, as left by its divine founder; and any which goes under its name, to the exclusion of that description of persons, who are so authoritatively pronounced especially qualified to be its members.

This very property of the Christian dispensation was foretold by Isaiah, when, speaking of the future Church, he said of the divine shepherd of the flock"He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom."*

St. Peter, on the first occasion of his addressing of the Jews,+ some of them being "pricked at the heart, and demanding-men and brethren what shall we do?” said to them" Repent and be baptized every one of

* xl. 11.

† Acts ii. 37, 38, 39.

you in the name of Jesus Christ, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost:" immediately adding"for the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Why was notice taken of the children of such as should believe; unless the new covenant, thus announced, resembled the old in the point of its embracing of the offspring of those who should become the subjects of it? Nothing would have been more natural, than for the hearers thus to interpret the words of the address. And it would be an evasion of the opposite sense to say, that the children were benefited by the privilege of becoming believers also: for this was equally true of the families of unbelievers. It is not here unknown, that the interpretation given is thought to be guarded against, by the words "even as many as the Lord our God shall call:" this being thought to refer to an irresistible call in the heart. But in the first place, the clause in question is evidently intended of" them that are afar off," and who should be the future subjects of the call. Besides, the metaphysical idea thus attached to the term, is wide of the practical use of it in the Scriptures; which apply it to all who have been brought, by the grace and by the providence of God, within the Christian Church. St. Paul entitles the Corinthians "called,"* although he holds it possible that they may have believed in vain."+ He makes a like address to the Thessalonians,‡ although he plainly intimates, that the conduct of some of them was very inconsistent with the Christian character. And in his epistle to the Hebrews, notwithstanding the apprehensions which he expresses of a growing tendency to apostacy, he acknowledges them as "partakers of the heavenly calling."

We read "The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband; else were your

* 1 i. 2.

† lxv. 2. 1 ii. 12, and 2 ii. 14. iii. 11.

# iii. 1.

children unclean, but now are they holy." They who conceive of this passage as having no relation to the spiritual privileges of the children of believers, interpret it as applying to the question of legitimacy. But this makes the saying of the apostle, irrelevant to the subject on which he wrote. He advises the believing husband, not to put away his unbelieving wife; and the believing wife, not to leave her unbelieving husband. This contrariety in religious character, had no such legal effect, as that of bastardizing the offspring, according to the municipal laws under which the parties lived. But how far it debarred their issue from religious privileges, might have been a doubt occurring to the mind of the believing party: and to obviate such a doubt, the apostle states the relation to be sanctified to the Christian inheritance of the children. Therefore, as was remarked in the lecture, they were called "holy" or "saints," as the word is translated in various places, where it is intended to describe persons possessed of full membership of the Church: as in Rom. i. 7., 1 Cor. i. 2., Eph. i. 1., Philipp. i. 1. In these and in many other places, the Greek word in question denotes the whole body of the Churches respectively addressed. Accordingly, the same word expresses the admissibility of the children of believers to that body.

St. Paul enjoins the parents of the Church of Ephesus to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Nurture supposes previous initiation, and admonition supposes previous authority; neither of which, as pertaining to the Lord Jesus, apply to others than those who are already of the number of his disciples; and therefore not to children, except on the presumption, that they may be entered of that number.

It is said by St. Paul to Timothy..." From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which 1 Cor. vii. 14.

+ vi. 4.

is in Christ Jesus."* The Greek wordt comprehends the earliest stage of infancy, coming within the circumstances of the case. Therefore, from the first dawnings of the light of Christian knowledge on the intellect of Timothy, he was susceptible of its saving influence; not to the effect of his conversion to the faith, but to that of governing his heart and life agreeably to it. Such an address would be inconsistently made to one who had no interest in the Christian covenant, until his judgment had grown to a degree of maturity, adequate to the determining on its merits, in all their relations and their dependencies.

St. John, in his first epistle, addresses in succession -.." little children," "young men," and "fathers."‡ Now however lax the use of the word "children"... as where our Lord asked his disciples, "Children, have ye any meat?"-a license, common perhaps to all languages; yet in the place now quoted, the marked diversity of time of life is evidence, that the little children were not indeed babes, but of so early an age, as to have received Christian instruction, in the form in which it had been delivered to them by their seniors.

In the epistle to the Ephesians there is the instruction -"Children, obey your parents in the Lord." On the ground of the opposite opinion, the instruction should have been addressed to those children, who being born of Christian parents, and being of mature years, had been initiated into the Church by their own consents and acts. It will hardly be doubted, that the precept was addressed to the children of Christian parents generally. But by what right, unless it were that grounded on their Christian character, did the apostle consider them as the subjects of his authoritative call; especially with the addition-" in the Lord?" implying, that they were in subjection to the Lord Christ: which, it is said, they could not be but by their own consent; given at a time of life, competent to the judging of the consequences of such an act.

* 2 iii. 15.

† Βρέφος.

Y y

ii. 12, 13, 14. § vi. 1.

Some of the epistles were written at periods of above thirty years, after the gathering of the Churches to which they are respectively addressed. Within that tract of time, there must have been many grown up to maturity; who had not been in existence, when their parents were converted to the Christian faith. Yet there is not any where an intimation of so important a difference of character, generally prevailing in the same families. Nothing could have been more natural than an intimation to parents, to use their best endeavours for the bringing of their children within the fold. But no such lesson is given: whatever relates to children being evidently accommodated to the idea, of their being already of the number of the recognized members of the Church.

Whatever may be urged from scripture of the tendency of the passages above stated; they are continually met by the objection, that infants are incapable of faith, and therefore incapable also of being interested in the Christian covenant. And in support of this sentiment, there never fails to be mentioned the divine commission, as it stands in St. Mark-"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned."*

On this text and the argument built on it, the following remarks occur.

First: The commission being more amplified in St. Matthew; it is proper to make this, and not the account in St. Mark, the standard of our conceptions as to its

extent.

Secondly: The resulting argument on the other side proves, if any thing, too much. Unless the words be considered as confined to persons capable of exercising faith; it will follow, not only that infants cannot be baptized, but also that they cannot be saved. This is here supposed to be a consequence, not contended for or admitted; and therefore is an insurmountable objection to the theory.

* xvi. 16.