, did it
creep in; or did the apostles practise it?

_Dr. D._ If infant baptism crept into the church, and if it be an
unauthorized innovation, one thing seems very strange, that, in this
Protestant age, when we are all so jealous of Romish and all human
inventions in matters of religion, the ablest and soundest men of all
Christian denominations but one, are firmly persuaded of its scriptural
authority, and are increasingly attached to it. In the great
reformations which have arisen from time to time, this practice would
have been swept away, had it been an error. It is more than we can
believe that Protestant denominations should all, with one exception,
adhere to an unscriptural practice, at the present day especially.

_Mr. M._ Well, sir, leaving the scripturalness of the ordinance out of
question, what support does the practice get from church history? How
far back to the times of the apostles can we trace it? Did any practise
it who could have received it from the apostles, or have known those who
did?

_Dr. D._ You must come with me into my study, and we will examine the
authorities.

I will not burden your attention and memory with many citations. Two or
three indisputable witnesses are better than a host. I rely chiefly on
the testimony of ORIGEN for proof that the practice of infant baptism
was derived from the apostles, though I will show you that his testimony
is confirmed by other witnesses.

ORIGEN was born in Alexandria, Egypt, A.D. 185, that is, about
eighty-five years after the death of the apostle John. To make his
nearness to the apostles clear to your mind, consider, that Roger
Williams, for example, established himself at Providence in 1636, say
two hundred and twenty years ago; yet how perfectly informed we are of
his opinions and history. But Origen, born eighty-five years only after
the death of John, knew, of course, the established practices of the
apostles, which had come down through so short a space of time. "His
grandfather, if not his father, must have lived in the apostles' day. It
was not, therefore, necessary for him to go out of his own family, to
learn what was the practice of the apostles. He knew whether he had
himself been baptized, if we may judge from his writings, and he must
have known the views of his father and grandfather on the subject. He
had the reputation of great learning, had travelled extensively, had
lived in Greece, Rome, Cappadocia, and Arabia, though he spen