A47448:196
A counter-antidote, to purge out the malignant effects of a late counterfeit, prepared by…
A counter-antidote, to purge out the malignant effects of a late counterfeit, prepared by Mr. Giles Shute ... being an answer to his vindication of his pretended Antidote to prevent the prevalency of Anabaptism, showing that Mr. Hercules Collins's reply to the said author remains unanswered : wherein the baptism of believers is evinced to be God's ordinance, and the baptized congregations proved true churches of Jesus Christ : with a further detection of the error of pedo-baptism : to which is added, An answer to Mr. Shute's reply to Mr. Collins's half-sheet / by Benjamin Keach.A counter-antidote, to purge out the malignant effects of a late counterfeit, prepared by Mr. Gyles Shute ... being an answer to his vindication of his pretended Antidote to prevent the prevalency of Anabaptism, shewing that Mr. Hercules Collins's reply to the said author remains unanswered : wherein the baptism of believers is evinced to be God's ordinance, and the baptized congregations proved true churches of Jesus Christ : with a further detection of the error of pedo-baptism : to which is added, An answer to Mr. Shute's reply to Mr. Collins's half-sheet / by Benjamin Keach.
London: printed for H. Bernard, 1694
Chapter 2: Wherein Mr. Shutes Reply to Mr. Hercules Collins Answer about habitual Faith is conside…
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.
Reader, Pray note how disingenuous this Man seems to be, and how he hath strangely encumbered the present controversy, in talk▪ of habitual grace in dying; Infants for what is that to the purpose, since he refers not to such Infants of believers that live? he himself acknowledges that all their Infants who live have not the habit of Faith: Nor can he prove any of them have it, or such that die either; therefore unless no other but dying Infants were baptized by the Pedo Baptists, this can no ways concern the controversy.
Reader, Pray note how disengenuous this Man seems to be, and how he hath strangely encumbred the present controversie, in talk▪ of habitual grace in dying; Infants for what is that to the purpose, since he refers not to such Infants of believers that live? he himself acknowledges that all their Infants who live have not the habit of Faith: Nor can he prove any of them have it, or such that die either; therefore unless no other but dying Infants were baptized by the Pedo Baptists, this can no ways concern the controversie.
2. Consider, that since those supposed habits in Infants of believers, do not appear to us, nor do we know which they are, what ground it there to Baptise any of them? For what appears not is not (as to us) Shou•d we Baptise any Adult persons in whom no Fruit, Sign, or demonstration of Faith appears than what appears in Infants, certainly we should be worthy of the greatest blame imaginable: For 'tis evident that in all whosoever that are the true subjects of Baptism, ought the habits of Faith not only to be, but the Act, confession and fruits of it also. True, we might plead thus; what tho' we see no fruits of Faith in some, yet they may be elected, and the habit of Faith may be in them: Nay, this allowed, viz. that they may Baptise all the Infants of Believers promiscuously, supposing some are true Subjects and have habitual Faith, why say, I may they not also Baptise (by the same argument) ⟨p. 21⟩