the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, do own infant baptism for the remission of sins *; for those that denied all water-baptism, did also generally renounce the Scriptures. It may be worth the while to gratify the Quakers with a short catalogue of all their ancient friends in that point of denying baptism, that were within our period: The historians that have given us the tale of all the heresies they had heard of, have been much too liberal of that name; for they have given the name of Heretics. to some that deserved a worse, and should have been called Infidels; and also to some that deserved one not so bad, and should have gone for distracted people. Of the first sort were the Valentinians, who made use of the name of Christ only to mock and abuse the religion; their own religion being a mixture of idolatry, magic, and lascivious rites; they † blasphemed the Scriptures as false, and the Catholics as carnal; and both, as giving a wrong account of Jesus Christ, of whom they made quite another sort of being. Of these Irenæus reckons up several sorts, which had their several opinions concerning baptisin. I gave a general account of them before, out of the 18th chapter of Irenæus's first book. Here you shall have Irenæus's words. Having premised, that "in this sect there are as many dπokurowσtic, redemptions [or, ways of baptism] as there are ring-leaders," he adds, "Some of them dress up a bride-chamber, and perform mystical ceremonies with certain profane words to those whom they initiate, and call this a spiritual marriage, which they say is inade according to the likeness of the heavenly conjugations. Others bring the party to the water, and, as they are baptizing, use these words: "In the name of the unknown Father of all things; in the Truth the Mother of all things; in him that came See the words, Part I. ch. 19. + Irenæus, lib. 3, c. 2. -- - 'down on Jesus; in the union and redemption and 'communion of powers.' Some, that they may amuse those whom they initiate, use certain Hebrew words, Basema, Chamasi, Baanaora,' &c.-Others of them again express their redemption [or baptism] thus: The name that is hidden from every deity, dominion, and truth, which Jesus of Nazareth put on in the zones of light,' &c. And he that is initiated [or, baptized], answers, I am confirmed and 'redeemed; and I redeem my soul from this on ' and all that comes of it, in the name of Iao,' &c.Then they anoint the baptized person with balsam; for they say this ointment is the type of that sweetness which surpasses all things [Note, That this is the first mention of Chrism that is anywhere read of; and since I shall shew presently, at Chap. ix, that it was used by the Catholics from testimonies of near the same date as this, one may conclude that it came from some principle universally received by all Christians, catholic or heretic.] "Some of them say, that it is needless to bring the person to the water at all; but making a mixture of oil and water, they pour it on his head, using certain profane words, much like them before mentioned; and they say that that is redemption [or bap ism,] This sort use balsam also. But others of them rejecting all these things, say, That the mystery of the unspeak⚫able and invisible Power, ought not to be performed by visible and corruptible elements; nor that of in".comprehensible and incorporeal things be represented by sensible and corporeal things; but that the knowledge of the unspeakable Majesty, is itself perfect redemption [or baptism]." These last I suppose. will be owned for friends. Tertullian wrote his book of Baptism, that he might put a stop to the heresy that had been set on foot by one Quintilla [100], a woman-preacher, who had been at Carthage a little before, and had, as he says se * De Baptismo, c. 1. * duced a great many. The main of her preaching was against water-baptism, "That it was needless; that faith alone was sufficient," &c. She had come out, as he understood, from the sect of the Caians. That sect, as impious as it was in other things*, did not deny baptism, that we read of; she had, it seems, added that herself. He there largely sets forth the falseness of her doctrine, and also her masculine impudence in usurping the office of a preacher of it, though it had been ever so true. The Manichees are the next [200],-as little deserving the name of Christians as the rest, and less than the Mahometans do. They made the same account of their Manes as these do of Mahomet; they owned Christ to be a true prophet, as these do, and Peter, Paul, John, &c. to have been his true apostles; but they said (as these also do) that the books which we have of theirs are no true records, but had been falsified. The same absurdity which the Christians now do urge against these, St. Austin urged against them: "That if they plead our copies are falsified, they ought at least to produce such as are truer ;" and he who had been once seduced by them, tells us what they held as to baptism †, -"They say that baptism in water does nobody any good; neither do they baptize any of the proselytes whom they delude into their sect." Yet St. Cyril of Jerusalem intimates, that they had something instead of baptism; "their baptism," says he, " is such as I dare not describe before men and women. I am afraid to tell in what matter it is that they, dipping a fig, give it to their wretched people." Yet he intimates what it was; but it is so beastly, that I will not do that. The Messalians [260] seem to have been no other but a sort of enthusiastic people, who, leaving off their employments, thought it necessary, or at least pleasing to God, to spend all their time in prayer and rapture; * Epiphan. de Caianis, hær. 38. + Catech, 6. + De Hær. c. 46. and thereby became subject to many hypochondriac conceits. Epiphanius and St. Austin, speaking of them in their catalogues, say nothing of their denying baptism. But Theodoret *, and the Historia Tripartitat out of him, repeat their sense thus: "That there is no profit accruing to the baptized by baptism; but that fervent prayer only expels the Devil;" and says, "that the most noted men of their sect were Dadoes, Sabbas, Adelphius, Hermas, and Symeonis." What does Mr. Danvers do but put down these ment for "eminent persons, that in the fourth century bore witness against infant baptism;" and he cites for authority the foresaid place, Hist. Tripart. lib. 7, c. 1; into which whoever looks, will see that the error there laid to their charge, is in the words that I have set down, and no other; which express the opinion of the Quakers, not of the Antipodobaptists. But he quotes also Sebast. Frank (one of the Dutch blades I mentioned a § little above, to confirm that this Dadoes, Sabbas, &c. were eminent witnesses against infant baptism; so that it is to be hoped, for Danvers's credit, that he had never looked into Hist. Tripart. but had taken the quotation on the credit of Frank, which must be very small. But if one read the whole passage in Theodoret, Hist. Eccl. lib. 4, c. 10; and Hæretic. Fabul. lib. 4, cap. de Messalianis, it is plain that the men were distracted; for they pretended, that by force of their prayer, they could bring the Devil out of themselves, sometimes by spittle, and sometimes by blowing their nose; they would dance about, and say they were treading upon him; they would imitate archers, and then say they had shot him; and that after the Devil was gone from them, they could see the Holy Tri! nity with bodily eyes; they were also full of prophecies and revelations. St. Hierom, who had lived in * Lib., c. 10. Treat. of Bapt. Part II. ch. 7. Lib. 7, c. 11. § Ch. 4. Syria among them, says, that they said of themselves, that" when they were come to the top of their perfection, they were beyond any possibility of sinning, in thought or by ignorance." The historians that have incumbered the church registers with these, and some other such sorts of sects, would at the same rate, if they had had in any country at any time, a dozen or two of our Muggletonians, have made a considerable sect of them, to be talked of in church history to the end of the world; whereas such men, especially when inconsiderable for number, should be pitied in their life-time and kept dark, and their wild opinions forgot after they are dead. This method would have lessened the catalogue of sects almost by one half. Some do reckon, beside these, the Ascodryti and the Archontici, as sects that used no baptism. But Theodoret says ‡, that the Ascodryti were a branch of the Valentinians; and the Archontici of them, which I am very glad of, being weary of reckoning any more. St. Austin says §, a sect called Seleucians or Hermians, do not admit of water-baptism nor of the resur rection. These are the sects that have renounced all use of baptism. Some, on the other extreme, have administered it several times to the same person, and are therefore properly called Anabaptists. I speak now of those that practised formal Anabaptism, i. e. what they themselves owned to be Anabaptism, or re-baptizing of the same person; and of such I remember no more in ancient times, but the Marcionites [40]. Marcion taught, as Epiphanius says, that it is lawful to give three baptisms; so that if any one fall into sin after his first baptism, he may have a second; and a third, if he fall a second time." Here it seems he : * Prolog. ad Dialog. contra Pelag. Hæret. Fab. lib. 1, c. 13. Hær. 42. Marcionitæ. + Epiph. de Archonticis, De Hær. c. 59, |
