THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AS TO THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM IN THE CASE OF INFANTS. With an Appendix, CONTAINING THE BAPTISMAL SERVICES OF LUTHER AND THE NUREMBERG AND COLOGNE LITURGIES. BY WILLIAM GOODE, M. A., F. S. A. RECTOR OF ST. ANTHOLIN, LONDON. NEW-YORK: STANFORD AND SWORDS, 137, BROADWAY. 1850. KPi ADVERTISEMENT. THE present volume is a reprint of Mr. Goode's book from the second revised edition, with the exception of the first 120 pp. which were stereotyped before it was known that the author was preparing a second edition. The variations in this portion of the work are, however, of no special importance. PREFACE BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. THE appearance of the following work will prove, it is confidently believed, an emphatic event in the history of theological controversy in the Church of England, and in her daughter Church in these United States. The subject is, the "effects of Baptism in the case of infants"; and the question, not what the Scriptures teach in regard to it, but what the Church of England, in her various standards of doctrine teaches. This question, which has been contested, on both sides of the Atlantic, for thirty years, and upwards, is here brought nearer to a settlement, if indeed it is not absolutely settled, than in any other book in the whole field of English theology. The author seems eminently qualified for the final solution. and adjustment of points, which have been long debated, and which, by protracted discussion from unskilful hands, have been perplexed and confused rather than cleared up ;-a case which not unfrequently occurs, where, on the one side, prejudice warps the judgment, and, on the other, want of information disqualifies for the exposure of sophistry. He is a divine of the most accurate scholarship, the most thorough and extensive reading, and the coolest and most cautious habits of thought. He seems entirely incapable of a superficial investigation of any subject: thoroughness characterizes every production of his pen. He never hurries to a conclusion, especially when it is complex. He discriminates carefully, "divides the question," selects his arguments more like a judge than an advocate, and enunciates his conclusion with all the limitations which the nature of his premises demands. |