DECLARATIONS OF [..] R THE BAPTISED.
| ANCIENT CHURCH. | CHURCHES ON THE ANCIENT MODEL. | REFORMED CHURCHES. | ||||||||
| Various Ancient Churches. | Old Latin Form translated by Luther. | Hermann. | Edward VI. First Book. | Present English. | Zurich. | Belgium. | French Protestants—Geneva—Polanus. | Alasco. | Old Scotch. | Scotch Directory. |
| No. 1. | No. 2. | No. 3. | No. 4. | No. 5. | No. 6. | No. 7. | No. 8. | No. 9. | No. 10. | No. 11. |
| 1. Renunciation. Dost thou renounce Satan? and all his works? and all his pomps?—(Roman.)—and the pomps of the world and its pleasures?—(Gallic.) I renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his service, and all his angels, and his pomps, &c. (Constantinop. and, with verbal differences, Jerus. Antioch, Alexand.) see also Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Basil, St. Jerome, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, ap. Palmer p. 177. 2. Belief. "In the Western churches the immemorial custom has been for the priests to interrogate the candidate for baptism or his sponsor, on the principal articles of the Christian faith. The profession was made in this manner in Gaul, as we find by the ancient Gallican missal, which was used before the introduction of the Roman Liturgy and offices into France. We also find that it was customary in Africa, by the testimony of Cyprian; and the ancient offices of the Roman Church exhibit the same. In the last, the sponsor or person to be baptized repeated the creed after the priest."—Palmer, p. 180. 3. Wish to be baptized. Willest thou to be baptized? (Sarum). 4. Holy Life. I confess Thee, Christ, our God, and all Thy salutary laws, and all Thy life, giving religion, and all Thy works, which give life.—Alex. I give up myself to the government of Christ.—(Others ap. Bingham, B. ii. c. 7, § 6.) |
Renouncest thou the devil and all his works? and all his ways? 2. Believest thou in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth? Believest thou in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, born and suffered? Believest thou in the Holy Ghost, one Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, &c. The same. |
Questions to Sponsors and Parents of Infants. Do ye believe that those things be true which I showed you out of the word of God, concerning the corruption of nature through original sin, and concerning regeneration in Christ our Lord, everlasting communion with God, which is exhibited through holy baptism?—A. We believe. Do you require then, with all your hearts, and with true faith, that this, your infant, whom you have brought and offered to Christ, be delivered from this corruption of nature, through the merit and virtue of Cnrist in baptism, and be reconciled unto God, and born again, into a new and perpetual life?—A. We require it. Do ye then renounce, in your own name, and in the name of the child, the devil and all his works?—A. We renounce. And the world also, and all its concupiscence?—A. We renounce. Do ye believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?—A. We believe. And do ye believe that God will be a Father to you and to this infant when it is baptized, and that He will keep you from all evil through His Almighty power, wisdom, and mercy, and heap benefits upon you, and that you ought to fear Him, and love Him, above all things?—A. We believe. Do ye believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, His only Son, who, to redeem us, became man, suffered, and died, and was raised again from death, ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and from thence governeth His Church, through His Almighty power, and shall come in the end of the world, and appear to all men, a judge of the dead and the quick?—A. We believe. Do ye confess out of this faith, that our Lord Jesus Christ is also your Saviour and Saviour of this child, who by His death hath also purged your sins, and hath reconciled you to God, and justified you through His resurrection, and will, at length, fully finish up the image and life of God in you, being cleansed from all sin?—A. We confess. And do ye believe, also, in the Holy Ghost, &c.—A. We believe. Out of this confession do ye believe that the Holy Ghost will be your teacher and comforter, and the teacher and comforter of this child; and that you be tlie true members of the body of Christ our Lord, and of His Church; and that this child, by baptism, shall be a member of Christ, and His Church, wherein he shall have remission of sins, a sure hope of resurrection, and of life everlasting?—A. We believe. Will ye, then, be Godfathers to this infant, and count him for a very son of God, a brother and member of Christ, and as soon as he cometh to the use of reason, if, peradventure, he shall lose his parents, or if they shall be negligent in this behalf, will ye take the charge of him, that he may learn the Ten Commandments, the articles of our faith, the Lord's Prayer and the Sacraments, both at home and in the congregation, that from his childhood he may begin to understand the mystery of Baptism, and the benefits of Christ, given to him therein; and, afterward, when he is well instructed in the religion of Christ, that he, in the congregation, with his own mouth, confess his faith, that he, through the participation of Christ, give himself to obedience towards God and the Church?—A. We will. |
Then shall the priest demand* of the child, &c. 1. Dost thou forsake the devil and all his works?—A. I forsake them. Dost thou forsake the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all the covetous desires of the same?—A. I forsake them. Dost thou forsake the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow or be led by them?—A. I forsake them. 2. Belief, divided into 3 parts, as in the ancient church, the assent expressed after each. 3. What does thou desire?—A. Baptism. Wilt thou be baptized?—A. I will. |
*of the God-fathers & Godmothers. 1. In question. 2. The division retained but the assent express at the end only. 3. Wilt thou be batpized in this faith? |
Nothing. In the English translation, not in Zuingli, nor in the [..] Eccl. Tigur the creed is recidted with this [..]. "These are the articles of the holy Christian [..], whereupon this child is to be baptized, and wherefore ought also to be instructed," and [..]wards the [..] are exhorted "to pray with devotion unto [..] that we may [..] of the Lord [..] faith for this [..]" Our Father &c. Will ye that this child be baptized with the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ? |
1. Although our children are conceived and born in sins, and so exposed to all sorts of miseries and damnation itself, do ye not confess that they are sanctified in Christ, and so are to be baptized as members of His church? 2. Do ye not acknowledge, that the doctrines comprised in the Old and New Test. and the articles of the Christian faith, which is delivered to this Church of Christ, is the true and entire doctrine of salvation? 3. Do ye not promise and determine that ye will educate this child, or take care that it be educated in this very doctrine when it grows up? 4. Nothing. |
Parents promise to instruct the child, at years of discretion, 3. according to the admonitions of the Prophets and the Apostles, to renounce himself and his desires, to dedicate and consecrate himself, to glorify the name of God and of Jesus Christ, and to edify his neighbour. 2. in the doctrine, as it is received and approved by the people of God, and summed up in the confession of faith, which we all receive. (Apostles' Creed.) Upon this promise the child is baptized. 3. to instruct the child to live according to the rule left us by our Lord in His law, to love God with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourselves. |
Do ye offer these children as the seed of this our Church, to be baptized lawfully here by our ministry? Do you acknowledge our doctrine, which ye have heard of Baptism and its mysteries, to be true, and that our infants (and indeed all of us) were by nature children of wrath and death, but are now, for Christ's sake, included in the divine covenant made with us by Christ, and ought to be sealed with the seal of His acceptance and righteousness, viz. Baptism? 3. Lastly, do ye acknowledge that it is the duty of you and of the whole Church, especially of you, fathers, (if the fathers are present) together with your wives, the mothers of these children, that those infants offered, when they shall grow up, be instructed in the true knowledge of God, and religion? |
Finally, to intent that we may be assured that you, the father and the surety, consent to performance, declare here the summe of that faith wherein you believe, and will instruct this child. | The Minister is to exhort the parents To consider the great mercy of God to him and his child; to bring up the child in the knowledge of the grounds of the Christian religion, and in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and to let him know the danger of God's wrath to himself and child, if he be negligent; requiring his solemn promise for the performance of his duty. |
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