A Body of Practical Divinity

3d Arg. Is from 1 Cor. 7.14. But now are your Children holy. Children are not called Holy, as if they were free from Original Sin, but in the Judgment of Charity they are to be esteemed holy and true Members of the Church of God, because their Parents are Believers. Hence that excellent Divine Mr. Heldersam saith, That the Children of the Faithful, as soon as they are born have a Covenant-Holiness, and so a Right and Title to Baptism, which is the Token of the Covenant.

3d Arg. Is from 1 Cor. 7.14. But now are your Children holy. Children are not called Holy, as if they were free from Original Sin, but in the Iudgment of Charity they are to be esteemed holy and true Members of the Church of God, because their Parents are Believers. Hence that excellent Divine Mr. Heldersam saith, That the Children of the Faithful, as soon as they are born have a Covenant-Holiness, and so a Right and Title to Baptism, which is the Token of the Covenant.

4th Arg. From the Opinion of the Fathers, and the Practice of the Church, (1.) The Ancient Fathers were strong Assertors of Infant-Baptism, Irenaus, Basil, Lactantius, Cyprian, and Austin. (2.) It was the Practice of the Greek Church to baptize her Infants. Erasmus saith, That Infant-Baptism hath been used in the Church of God for above Fourteen Hundred Years. And St. Austin, in his Book against Pelagius, affirms, That it hath been the Custom of the Church in all Ages to Baptize Infants: Yea, it was an Apostolical Practice. St. Paul affirms, that he Baptized the whole House of Stephanus, 1 Cor. 1.16.