Certain disputations of right to sacraments, and the true nature of visible Christianity defending…

Object. But is it a likely thing that the Fathers and Catholic Church should be so blind as to take all for truly justified and regenerate that are baptized? Then either they must take all the members of the Visible Church to be such, and so be saved; or else they must suppose them to fall away from saving grace.

Object. But is it a likely thing that the Fathers and Catholick Church should be so blind as to take all for truly justified and regenerate that are baptized? Then either they must take all the members of the Visible Church to be such, and so be saved; or else they must suppose them to fall away from saving grace.

Answ. 1. The supposition of falling away was too common with them, though a few words on the by have fallen from some few of them that seem inconsistent with it. 2. They did not take All Collectively to be justified that were baptized and Church-members, but All Distributively, or each single person, 3. And that was only by that judgement which is grounded on humane faith, because they are bound, fide humanâ, to believe that he is a true believer that professeth himself so to be, as all the baptized at age did. 4. But when they came 1. to speak of All collectively, 2. or of Hypocrites in general, 3 or of any that did after discover themselves to have dissembled in Baptism ⟨p. 203⟩particularly; then they declare the uneffectualness of Baptism to those Hypocrites, and that they took not all the Visible Church to consist of justified Ones; but that the Hypocrites, though baptized, were but the chaff, and the upright were the Wheat. But it is but Hypocrites that they say this of, and not men that never (by themselves, or their Parents, or Pro-parents) did so much as profess the Christian justifying faith, but only a faith of another kind;

Answ. 1. The supposition of falling away was too common with them, though a few words on the by have fallen from some few of them that seem inconsistent with it. 2. They did not take All Collectively to be justified that were baptized and Church-members, but All Distributively, or each single person, 3. And that was onely by that judgement which is grounded on humane faith, because they are bound, fide humanâ, to believe that he is a true believer that professeth himself so to be, as all the baptized at age did. 4. But when they came 1. to speak of All collectively, 2. or of Hypocrites in general, 3 or of any that did after discover themselves to have dissembled in Baptism