Transcribed from the 1865 Hatchard & Co. edition by DavidPrice,
BY
EDWARD HOARE, M.A.,
INCUMBENT OF TRINITY CHURCH, TUNBRIDGEWELLS.
“Sanctify the Lord God in yourhearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every manthat asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, withmeekness and fear; having a goodconscience.”—1 Peter iii. 15, 16.
SIXTH EDITION.
LONDON: HATCHARD & CO., 187,PICCADILLY, W.
Booksellers to H.R.H. the Princess of Wales.
1865.
BY
EDWARD HOARE, M.A.,
INCUMBENT OF TRINITY CHURCH, TUNBRIDGEWELLS.
Few subjects have occasionedgreater controversy than that of baptism, and few have beendiscussed with greater eagerness. The baptismal service ofthe Church of England has been a stumbling-block to many withouther pale, and been made the basis of the extreme viewsentertained by many of those within. Some have thought itunscriptural, and have resolved in consequence upon separationfrom our Church; while others have regarded it as containing theChurch’s principles more distinctly than the Articles, andhave founded upon it the doctrine of spiritual regeneration asinvariably connected with the sacrament. The object of thepresent tract is to compare the Prayer Book with the Bible: indoing which it will be needless to attempt any statement of thevarious opinions expressed upon the subject; our p. 4simpler andsafer course will be to turn at once to the books themselves.
of course must claim precedence, and our endeavour will be toascertain
I. What is the inward and spiritual blessing connectedwith the sacrament of baptism in Scripture?
II. What is the nature of the connexion?
I. That there are certain high and rich gifts connectedwith baptism in sacred Scripture must be acknowledged by all whostudy it in a childlike spirit. Men may entertain differentopinions as to the connexion, and even as to the nature of thegifts, but that there are such gifts it is surely impossible todeny. Few words may suffice to shew that the sum andsubstance of these gifts is a saving union with our Lord JesusChrist. In 1 Cor. xii. 13, it is written, “For by oneSpirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews orGentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made todrink into one Spirit.” That these words apply to theinward and spiritual grace of which baptism is a sign and means,lies on their very surface. They are plainly speaking of aninward and spiritual work, for they ascribe it to the agency ofthe Holy Ghost himself—“By one Spirit are ye allbaptized;” while the use of p. 5the word “baptized” isproof of a connexion between this inward change and the outwardsacrament. The inward grace is the subject of the passage,and this grace is connected by the language with the outwardsign. We are, therefore, fully warranted in employing thistext as a description of that blessing with which baptism isconne