A30138:259
Differences in judgment about water-baptism, no bar to communion, or, To communicate with saints,…Differences in judgment about vvater-baptism, no bar to communion, or, To communicate with saints,…
Differences in judgment about water-baptism, no bar to communion, or, To communicate with saints, as saints, proved lawful in answer to a book written by the Baptists, and published by Mr. T.P. and Mr. W.K. entitled, Some serious reflections on that part of Mr. Bunyan's confession of faith, touching church-communion with unbaptized believers : wherein, their objections and arguments are answered, and the doctrine of communion still asserted and vindicated : here is also Mr. Henry's Jesse's judgment in the case, fully declaring the doctrine I have asserted / by John Bunyan.Differences in judgment about vvater-baptism, no bar to communion, or, To communicate with saints, as saints, proved lawful in answer to a book written by the Baptists, and published by Mr. T.P. and Mr. W.K. entituled, Some serious reflections on that part of Mr. Bunyan's confession of faith, touching church-communion with unbaptized believers : wherein, their objections and arguments are answered, and the doctrine of communion still asserted and vindicated : here is also Mr. Henry's Jesse's judgment in the case, fully declaring the doctrine I have asserted / by John Bunyan.
London: printed for John Wilkins, 1673
Differences in Judgment about Water-Baptism no Bar to Communion.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Ans. You will yet set up your own words, and then fight against them: but my words are these, What greater contempt can be thrown upon the Saints, than for their Brethren to cut them off from, or to debar them Church-Communion!
And now I add, Is not this to deliver them to the Devil, 1 Cor. 5. or to put them to shame before all that see your acts? There is but one thing can hinder this, and that is, by-standers see, that these your Brethren, that you thus abuse, are as holy men as our selves. Do you more to the open Profane, yea, to all Wizards and Witches in the Land? For all you can do to them (I speak now as to Church-acts) is no other than debar them the Communion of Saints.
And now I add, Is not this to deliver them to the Devil, 1 Cor. 5. or to put them to shame before all that see your acts? There is but one thing can hinder this, and that is, by-standers see, that these your Brethren, that you thus abuse, are as holy men as our selves. Do you more to the open Prophane, yea, to all Wizards and Witches in the Land? For all you can do to them (I speak now as to Church-acts) is no other than debar them the Communion of Saints.
And now I say again, The World may well wonder, when they see you deny holy-men of God that liberty of the Communion of ⟨p. 72⟩Saints which you Monopolize to your selves. And though they do not understand the grounds of Profession, or Communion; yet they can both see, and say, these Holy-men of God, in all visible acts of Holiness, are not one inch behind you. Yea, I will put it to your selves, If those many, yea very many, who thus severely (but with how little ground, is seen by men of God) you deny Communion with, are not of as good, as holy, as unblameable in life, and as sound, if not sounder in the Faith than many among our selves: Here only they make the stop, they cannot, without Light, be driven into Water-baptism, I mean after our Notion of it: but what if they were, 'twould be little sign to me that they were sincere with God.