having then been justified and cleansed from all sin, and had the grace of Christ given, and fresh supplies pledged to us,) the statement of the character of "works done before justification and the grace of Christ," does not, of course, directly apply. It describes to us the state from which we were delivered by being brought into Christ's fold; and so ministers one cause of abundant gratitude, but does not speak of a state in which we ever actually were. In like manner, our Article on Baptism describes (in parts) the relation of that gift to one, upon whom it should be conferred as a fully intelligent recipient, (not to us as infants) for in such recipients only could "faith be confirmed and grace increased:" and this is done, because the character and power of Baptism in itself, is most conspicuously and plainly seen, when brought in contact with man's full-grown powers, and capacities, and sins. But it would be a manifest perversion of the language of the Article, to apply it, in a Zuinglian sense, to infants, as if sin had already been remitted, "faith" already given, and "grace" already bestowed.
The relative prominency of the Zuinglian views, in the several confessions, may be, to a degree, seen, in the following table, referring to the several marks of that theory mentioned at the beginning of this note (p. 225).
| 1. Comparison with the signs of the Old Test. | 2. With the written word. | 3. Efficacy explained by reference to sight, &c. | 4. As Memorials. | 5. Means of consecrating a people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helv. 1566.… | …… | ……… | …… | …… |
| Helv. 1536 | ……… | |||
| Helv. 1532 | ……marg. | …… | ||
| Gall. | …… | ……… | ||
| Scot.…… | …… | …… | ||
| Belg.…… | …… | ……… | …… | |
| Hungar.… | …… | |||
| Heidelb.… | …… | ……… | …… | |
| Genev.… | …… | ……… | ||
| Bohem.… |
| 6. Grace given in, not in fact by or through; see above, p. 97, &c. | 7. To the elect only. | 8. Denial of efficacy of words of consecration. | 9. Grace not inclosed in the Sacraments. | 10. Participation in and out of the Sacraments the same. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helv. 1566…… | … | ……… | ……… | ……… |
| Helv. 1536 | … | |||
| Helv. 1532…… | ||||
| Gall.……… | ||||
| Scot.……… | … | ……… | ||
| Genev.(see above p.230) | … | ……… | ||
| Hungar……… | … | ……… | ……… | |
| Heidelb.……… | ……… | |||
| Belg. (see above p.230) | ……… | ……… |
