St. Paul daily globe., 1891-05-30
"INFANT DAMNATIoN."

a "A
Presbyterian divines rather advanced
in years, and among them men OF schol-
arShip, are disposed to claim the con-
fession of faith in no way teaches that
any class of dying infants go into a
penal state; and many eminent Congre-
gatlonallStS with PreSbyt erian theology
join them i'll questioning whether Cal
viniStS have ever taught such an alb
hOrrent doctrine. SO candid a man as
DR.. ROBERT CHRISTIE, pastor of the
House of Hope, intimates, without pos
itlvely asserting, that such an interpre-
tation of 'the standards" is a ''miscon-
struction," and quotes DIR. CHARLES
HODGE for trustworthy witness. The
Princeton theOlogian says i'll his latest
revision of his teachings:
I'VE are sorry to see that DR.. kRANTH abors
to prove that the Westminster confession
teaches that only certain part, or some of
those who die i'll infancy, are saved. This
he does by putting his construction on the
language OF the confession. We can only
say that we never saw Calvin site theolo-
gian who held that doctrine. We are not
learned enough to venture the assertion that
no CalvlniSt ever held il; but If all Calvin
lists are responsible for what every Calvinist
has said. and all Lutherans are responsible
for everything LUTHER or Lutherans ever
SAID. then Dr.. KRANTH, as well as ourselves,
VIII have heavier burden 10 carry
A few years since the Boston Congre-
gatiOnalist challenged any one to pro-
duce passage in which a Calvinistic
minister had uttered belief IN infant
damna ton.
All of which seems astonishing to
some whose reading in the CalviniStic
literature of the century that produced
the confession, though not very extern
slye, has been sufficient to find many
passages of the kind whose existenc g
Dr.. HODGE doubted and DR.. CHRISTIE,
on DIR. HoDGE's authority, almost de-
MES.
For instance, look into the writings Of
DIR. THOMAS GOODWIN, who was him
self one of the ablest members of the
Westminster assembly. In Vol. IL,
PIP. 1856, of NICHOLS edition of his
works we meet with this diSquiSitiOn:
''But you will say Doth God intiict eternal
death merely for the corruption Of nature on
any infants?
"My brethren, it must be said Yes: we are
children of wrath by nature and unless
there come in election among them, for il is
election sayeth, and is the root of salvation,
1t must needs be so. Sodom and Gomorrah
all suffered the vengeance of eternal fire,
and surely there were multitudes of infants
there. The flood swept away infants and
they are called, / mean those that were
destroyed with the flood, the world of the
ungodly.' Death, saith the apostle, reigned
before MOSES: it reigned over children, saith
he. And there was that instance of it, for he
alludeih especially to the instance of the
flood, and it was a great instance when God
came and swept away all the world of the
ungodly, with all their infants, even they
that were Ill the very womb.
But you will say, Do these perish: or doth
God let those perish? Doth His wrath seize
upon them!
Not only that the text saith, but that in
Rom. V. is clear for it. For having i'll
stanced in children for it in The thirteenth
and fourteenth verses, he goes on. and shows
that the death he intended is not only bod.
I!y death. but eternal. Here you see eternal
life is opposed to that death that is said to
have reigned. Therefore, those that have
death opposite to eternal life. and hence
condemnation by that one mans disobe.
dience opposite to justification, must needs
reach to eternal death as well as to temporal.
1t is true, election knows its own amongst
infants but it must be free grace, ii must be
by grace you are saved. for clearly by nature
ye are all children of earth. Therefore the
Lord, as He VIII have instances of all sorts
that are i'll heaven, SO He will have some
that are in hell for their sin brought into the
world"
Did not GOODWIN; and did not the
other trainers of the confession, under
stand all this to be its meaning, and
construct its language accordingly
What is the use of trying to believe
they did not? Whether it is straight
work to bring oneself to subscribing to
their words by putting an accommodate
ing construction on them. is question
in morals. We are dealing now only
with question in facts. The West
minister men knew, and were able to
say, what they thought. Theologians
calling themselves CalviniSts to-day
may not believe as the Calvinists CT the
seventeenth century did. but no good
can come from trying to disguise the
olden faith with modern clothing.
Christian truth should be held more
sacred than the credal formulas.
1t is sweet to turn from THOMAS
GOODWIN, the seventeenth century Cal
whist, to CHARLES HODGE. the nine
teenth century Calvinist, and, instead
of reading the awful Westminster teach
ing, read this: "All who die in infancy
are saved. The Scriptures nowhere ex-
clude any class of infants, born in Chris
tian or heathen lands, of believing or
unbelieving parents, from the benefits
of the re0emOtioD of Christ ,,