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the clergy could not fail of being most injurious.

"Under these circumstances it surely became the pious and devout to step forward in the cause of their Saviour, and to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.' They did this. They attempted to shew, that whether regeneration or the new birth was considered as meaning an inward change of heart, or merely a covenant right to certain benefits and blessings, a radical alteration in all the powers of the soul was absolutely needful before a worldly, self-righteous, proud, profane, or profligate man could see the kingdom of God. This was the point at issue, though other topics were dragged into the dispute, and magnified far beyond their real importance.

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Such was the rise of the controversy on regeneration amongst us; the issue of which has been, that in point of argument Dr. Mant has been driven out of all his positions. His advocates have quitted the field. They have admitted that the spiritual and universal change of all the faculties of the soul does not universally attend baptism, and that this change must be enforced on every irreligious and wicked person. As to the real nature of a renewal after the image of God, different sentiments prevail, according to the state of mind of the various persons who engage in the question. The natural man,' amongst us as in every other part of the world, 'receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' But it is a great point gained that truth is so far triumphant. May the good Spirit of God grant us more of the effusion of his grace, that we may understand more the state of depravity in which we are by nature, and be more penetrated with a conviction of the necessity of that Divine transformation which is to prepare us for the service of God here, and the fruition of God hereafter.

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"In all these statements, I flatter myself, Right Rev. sir, that I shall be honoured with your concurrence. Nor am I disposed to proceed further. If I were to come to the details of this stupendous doctrine, as connected with baptism, I should probably be little able to convince you of the correctness of my particular views. Nor have I any right to impose those views on others, much less on a stranger of your rank in the church. Allow me, however, simply to state some of the reasons which have led me to the use of the word regeneration in the latitude to which you object. These reasons I will state, not so much with the design of convincing you, as of shewing that I have not lightly adopted the sentiments at which I have arrived. And I select this topic because, so far as I can judge, it forms the chief ground of exception in your mind to the statements of my sermon.

"I use the word regeneration, or new birth, for the incipient spiritual change and transformation of the heart of man whenever communicated, whether in the sacrament of baptism or not, because I conceive the Holy Scriptures so employ it. The being 'born again, born from above, born of God, born of the Spirit, begotten again, made partakers of a Divine nature, made alive,' &c., appear to me all descriptive of the same mighty change, the commencement of sanctification in fallen man. And the Scripture seems to my mind to direct us to judge of this great alteration, not by referring us to our baptism, but to the moral and spiritual fruits of the Spirit in our tempers and lives.

"This inward renewal of the soul, however, can be known only to the church when a public profession of faith is made and the sacrament of baptism administered. Then the convert, born already of the Spirit, is born also of water; the change is attested and confirmed, the gifts of grace are implored, the visible transition from 'the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God's dear Son' takes place, and the catechumen partakes,

in the liturgical sense of the word, of a new life. When, therefore, we speak strictly and ecclesiastically, the being born again will include the incipient change of heart, the admission to all the privileges of the church, and the washing with water. To this language I fully accede. The Scripture leads the way; I follow. The same Scripture, also, more commonly speaks of the change of nature, without reference to baptism; I follow again. For if I refuse to do this, and confine the meaning of the term regeneration, ornew birth, to outward privileges, then I take out from the scriptural word its most important ingredient; I use the word in another and much lower sense, and I am bound in consistency to allow it also to be used in its more full interpretation as comprehending a change of heart. If, on the other hand, I understand the word regeneration as including the beginning of the moral transformation of man, then I must employ it, as the Scripture does, both in connexion with the water of baptism as the visible sign and seal of it, and also more generally without any immediate connexion with it, as being conveyed by the word and Spirit of God to baptized persons at various periods of their lives. Thus, under any supposition, the use of the word in its popular and general sense, as well as in its ecclesiastical and sacramental sense, is scriptural, and includes the two obvious and most important uses of it as found in Holy Writ.

"I conceive this to be more important, because, allowing the single word regeneration, raλıyyevɛoia, on account of its use Titus iii. 5, to be more properly used in connexion with baptism; yet the terms 'new birth, the being born of God, born again,' &c. &c.-expressions, as I conceive, precisely similar-must not be so restrained, if we would fairly be guided by Holy Scripture; and because all those persons who object to the general use of the word regeneration, object also to such a use of its synonymes.

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Besides, in the present circumstances of the church, it is chiefly of infants that the sacrament of baptism and its benefits are predicated. With regard to adults, the case is clear. They come to baptism with repentance and faith; that is, with a divine life begun; and on their profession of faith and washing with water, they are pronounced in the ecclesiastical sense regenerate or born anew. The difficulty is with infants; and it is natural it should be So. It has pleased God to say little or nothing explicitly of infant baptism: it is a doctrine of inference from the practice of the Old-Testament church from the general nature of the covenant of grace, the condescending conduct of our Saviour to children, the comprehensive language of the New Testament, and the uniform custom of the Christian church. Our formularies, therefore, seem to view children as a part of their parents: they charitably take them from the world and insert them in the church-they consider the profession of their sponsors as the answer of a good conscience towards God made by themselves-they offer devout prayers on their behalf-and they then baptize them with water, and pronounce them regenerate: certainly as to the washing of water, and all the privileges of the church, (including all that you, Right Rev. sir, seem to me to include in the meaning of the term), and charitably, hypothetically (or whatever else you may call it), as to the communication of a divine life, and a principle of incipient holiness. Under such circumstances, then, the common use of the words 'new birth, regeneration,' &c., as applicable to the commencement of a holy state of heart and life, or, as you would call it, conversion, whenever it takes place, is peculiarly important, because the danger of mistaking a form of knowledge for genuine piety is peculiarly great, and the actual knowledge of the moral state of the heart is only to be gathered by subsequent proofs.

"The two uses of the word are

harmonious and intelligible in this sacrament, just as communion with Christ,' and the eating his flesh and blood,' are expressions used in a similar manner in the other sacrament. The sign and seal of these spiritual blessings are the visible elements; and the communion we hold with our dying Lord includes, indeed, in its ecclesiastical and sacramental sense, the use of the appointed sign; but is spoken of in Scripture as maintained also in other methods of grace. The two meanings are intelligible and important, and not inconsistent with each other.

"Nor will your argument derived from the supposed degradation of the sacrament of Baptism, by considering the full spiritual grace not invariably conveyed by it, have any weight, till it is shewn that the acknowledged separation of the grace sealed by the sacrament of the Lord's Supper tends to degrade that sacred ordinance.

There was, moreover, less reason for the relinquishing this popular use of the words regeneration or new-birth, at the time when Dr. Mant made his appeal, because the long and established language of our best divines had authorized it. It was no invention of the divines whom Dr. Mant opposed. They found it in the writings of the Reformers of our church. They objected not to the ecclesiastical and sacramental terms employed by those writers. They followed them in the use of them. They followed them also in their more general language, in which regeneration, renovation, conversion, &c. were employed indiscriminately, or nearly so, for the great and commanding truth of a radical change of heart. On this point I believe no question has been raised. I have, myself, looked into the writings of above a hundred of our first divines from the Reformation downwards, and can safely say I have found the practice which I am now speaking of very general. It would have been a dereliction, then, of truth to have relinquished to a precipitate CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 361.

adversary, the established language of theology, authorised by Holy Scripture, consistent with the formularies of our church, and confirmed by all our first writers. On the great doctrine of the Holy Trinity, a surrender of intelligible and precise terms of divinity, even though not in so many words Scriptural, has always been most justly deprecated, as either proceeding from, or involving, some compromise as to the doctrine in dispute. Much more, then, should terms ipso facto in Scripture be used as they are used there; sometimes, indeed, in connexion with the sacraments, but by far more commonly with no such limitation.

"For it is not merely the case of a few devout and pious persons which is to be considered. These, if they object conscientiously, however erroneously, to this or that Scriptural term, may do it perhaps without material injury, whilst the great principles of piety remain in healthy operation. But in the case of the immense majority of mankind, and even of divines, the tendency to sink into mere formality is so great, that the surrender of the terms new birth, regeneration, born again, &c. except in connexion with baptism, would rapidly bring on a departure from the spiritual and holy faith of the Gospel. Indeed, when worldly men conceive a dislike of religious activity and decided holiness in others (departed sanctity is less irksome), they commonly begin by objecting to terms and phrases-so it is as to the doctrine of justification, so as to the doctrine of separation from the follies of the world, so in the truth of communion with God. Conscience prevents men from openly impugning the doctrines of grace and holiness: they manage their attack, therefore, under cover of some particular expression and practice.

"Such are some of the reasons which have induced me to adhere to what I conceive to be the good old divinity of our forefathers, the founders and defenders of our church. But, independently of these consi

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derations, the controuling motive with me is the clear line of Scripture language. Other arguments may have their weight; this is a paramount and overwhelming consideration. If the Scriptures had always connected the new birth with baptism, I would have done the same. As they appear to me decidedly not to do so, I must beware of putting human explications in the place of divine.

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"At the same time, allow me, again and again, to repeat (without any reference to yourself, Right Rev. sir, whom I now beg leave, for a moment, to put out of the question), that I would never enter upon controversy with a person who merely objected to the single term regeneration, and cordially admitted the necessity of being born of God, made a new creature, turned from darkness unto light, raised from the dead, begotten again, made partaker of a Divine nature,' &c. &c. Nay, I should esteem such a person just as highly as if he entirely agreed with me. Where I take my stand is on the footing of that grand and fundamental truth of the necessity of a thorough change of heart and life, which, now the Sacrifice of the Cross has been offered, appears to me the turning point in Christianity. There, as I conceive, the world and the spiritual church divide. There the formal and the real, the outward and the inward, the nominal and the sincere professor of the Christian faith, separate from each other. The cold and worldly, with all their subterfuges, deny at last the necessity of an entire and spiritual transformation of fallen man by the power of the Holy Ghost; and the doctrine of the sacrament is only a step (not perhaps in their apprehensions, but in fact) to this further end. On the other hand, the sincere and devout Christian who feels and laments the power of inherent evil, and who struggles to love and obey God, sees at a glance the nature and supreme importance of the quickening operations of the Holy Ghost; he feels the ne

cessity and suitableness of this truth of our new birth: and this source of holiness is the spring of all his efforts, prayers, acts of self-denial, beneficence, humility, and love. Connected with this, the discovery of the glory of the Redeemer is ever dependent on a real transformation of heart. Nature knows nothing of Christ. All the doctrine in the world will never lead a man to a right view of our mysterious Lord and his stupendous sacrifice. To the unawakened mind Christ has no beauty nor comeliness. But the man who is born of God, and has learnt, in a penetrating and effectual manner, the holiness of the law, the heinousness of sin, the impotency of man, the entire depravity and corruption of every power of his soul, and the infinite purity, justice, and truth of God, is prepared for the salvation by grace which the Gospel reveals. Light is not more adapted to the eye than the truth of a crucified Saviour is to the faith of the quickened heart. He finds pardon and justification by 'the gift of righteousness;'faith is counted to him for righteousness;' he works not, but believes on him that justifieth the ungodly.' Peace with God, adoption, hope, joy, now succeed each other; and appear in their proper fruits, humility, meekness, righteousness, sobriety, truth; and by these fruits the genuine work of new-creating grace is distinguished from every counterfeit. Thus the doctrine of a divine birth runs through every part of Christianity; and this is the doctrine which God will own with the broad seal of his blessing. This is the doctrine which actually produces an effect on men. The law convinces them of sin; the Gospel brings them consolation; the Holy Spirit renews and sanctifies their whole nature, using the law and the Gospel as instruments in his hand for producing repentance and faith, and then communicating perpetual supplies of grace from the fulness which is in Christ Jesus. On this doctrine the church is built, the foundation of apostles and prophets,

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Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.' And blessed be God, our own Protestant Reformed church has laid this doctrine as the foundation of all her services. But the builders in every age disallow too frequently this foundation. Men arise who neither understand nor feel one truth on which the Reformation proceeded; and who force the Articles and Homilies and Liturgy of their church to speak the cold and heartless language which suits the unrenewed mind. At least, thus it is amongst us. In the Church of Scotland, the case, I am told, is the same. The Protestant and Lutheran churches on the continent of Europe

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are in a similar state. The number of real and spiritual Christians is, in general, comparatively fewstrait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life whilst the crowd of worldly and vain persons, both amongst clergy and laity, is immense. These, having numbers on their side, drown the voice of truth by noise and clamour, stifle remonstrances by a spirit of party, and have the rulers and great and many of the learned on their side. The spiritual church still protests against declines from Scripture doctrine: she prays, she waits, she hopes; and at this time more especially, because there is a wide diffusion of Scriptural truth and feeling, and the younger clergy are reading and examining for themselves. These are the salt of our church, the light of our country, and the best hope of our preservation amidst the conflicting

sentiments and controversies of our free and enlightened nation.

"But I have proceeded beyond all apology. My pen has run on with out my perceiving it, into a long train of contemplation on the state of England as to religion and the progress of truth. I can only plead as an excuse, a desire to be candid and explicit on all the bearings of the doctrine of regeneration, as it presents itself to my mind. I flatter myself that most of what I have advanced, with the exception of what

relates to the term regeneration, may meet your approbation. I wish to submit the whole to your better judgment, and shall be most happy to enter upon any further explanations which you may have the condescension to suggest to me as advisable.".......

"DANIEL WILSON *."

The prelate to whom the above letter was addressed was the late Bishop Kemp, of Maryland. It may not be uninteresting to our Reverend correspondent, or our readers, to learn a few particulars respecting the deceased prelate. We shall state them in the words of one who knew and highly esteemed him, and

who espoused his views in regard to those differences of opinion which have at times greatly divided the clergy of Maryland, and generated very painful controversies; so much so that after the decease of Bishop Kemp, in 1827, no bishop was elected for three years, the clergy being too discordant in opinion to ensure the requisite majority of votes for any one candidate. At length however Dr. affairs of the diocese, we are happy to Stone was unanimously elected, and the learn, proceed in much peace and mutual forbearance and good will. We have not before alluded to these circumstances, which have harassed the infant Episcopal or to various other painful controversies church in the United States, as our interference might appear officious, and could only tend to keep up irritation; and we only allude to them now as matters of time to come. history and solemn admonitions for the We have endeavoured to act in the spirit of a pledge which we gave to Bishop Chase and Bishop Hobart, that if we could in any way assist the great

cause in which our American brethren are

engaged, we should rejoice to do so, but that, as regarded vexatious controversies, we must say, in the well-known words of Bonaparte, "Cleanse your soiled garments

at home."

We do not make ourselves responsible for the remarks or sentiments in the fol

lowing notice, which, for the sake of impartiality, we give in the words of a friend of the bishop's, though they partake too much of the partizanship which he blames. He might surely, without any superfluous extension of charity, have attributed to from not approving of his sentiments betthose who opposed Dr. Kemp's election ter motives than those which he is pleased to impute. But we have no wish to revive controversy; we only copy the statement as furnishing a suitable accompaniment to Mr. Wilson's letter, and, we think, to those who look beneath the surface, an instructive comment upon it.—

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