The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-24
CALV LV|NISM THEME
 OF STAGES SERMON
Explains His Doctrine of Infant
 Salvation
QUOTES FROM THE WRITER'S
Children Are Condemned Because of Curse of Adam; They Are Re- generated Because of Merit
 of Christ.

 day morning on the Calvinistic doctrine of infant salvation at the First Presbyterian church. This is a subject which pr. Stagg has given much study and was one of special interest to Presbyterians.
 After the service a congregational meet ing was held and J. M. Caldwell. c. N. Mills, F. G. Mcconnell and John s. Going were elected elders of the First church. The text for the morning sermon was: But Jesus said, suffer little children, and forbid them not. to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'- Matt. 1914.
 Herein is contained what many believe to be the New Testament doctrine of the salvation of infants, and they believe that Jesus was stating the doctrine so as to make it conform to the context of the doctrines Of the Bible in its teachings on original sin and the necessity of regenera- ton. The quibble of writers Is to no purpose, when it is attempted to ignore the teaching of the just Teacher, by supposing He only described such chill dren as were In age to understand His t invitation. Christ was showing that life must come to all alike, and that there was power with God. after declaring all to ] be under the condemnation of original sin, to regenerate infants without the hearing of the word or the exercise of faith, which is the requirement. for the adult Jesus was not wasting time in empty gestures when He took little infants in His arms, put His hands upon them and blessed them. but He was emphasizing the teach ing of the Bible that all who come to the Father must come by Him whom the Father had sent.
 "When we consider that more than half the human race die in infancy, it is not difficult to understand that the contro- yersy of the ages has been most fierce over the arranging of theological tenets so as to admit of the saving of children. The perplexity as l perceive it, has all along been to reconcile infant salvation with original ruin through one man and regeneration through the Man from heaven.
 This has been the testing for heretics and men like Zwingle, who denied that there was any hurt in the fall of Adam except for himself, have been cast out as unsound. Theological systems have also been builded, which in their process of invoking certain doctrines were declared scriptural which render them illogical when the salvation of infants is to be 1 provided for. In fact, so far as I know, 1 there is not a system of theological l thought than can maintain the Bible doc ] trines of sin and regeneration and save infants with the single exception of the . Calvinistic. Those systems that hold to | baptismal regeneration make no pro- vision for the unbaptized. The result is that when the infant is declared saved it is declaration against the logic of the system that holds out the hope. | This year, 1909, is the Tooth birth year of John Calvin, the man who has been the most abused and misunderstood of all the great men of history, and the saliva tion of children, most of all, has been the cause for heaping aspersion upon his name. Since Presbyterians and Calvin ists throughout the world will be making a new study of the man and his times, I deem 1t a matter of sufficient import ance, for education alone, to see If his teachings on this great subject can be brought into accord with the teachings of Jesus.
 If we will keep in mind what have already emphasized, viz. that infant sal vation must harmonize with the Bible teaching of original sin and regeneration, every disputed passage in Calvn's writ ing will become easy of Understanding.
  tutes, which reads as follows
 " I inquire, again, how it came to pass that the fall of Adam, independent of any remedy, should involve so many na- tions. with their infant children, in eter- nal death, but because such was the will of God. It is awful decree, I con- fess; but no one can deny that God fore knew the futures final fate of man be- fore He created and that He did fore know it because it was appointed by His own decree.
 Here we have a controversy with the Pelagians, who denied the teachings that the fall of Adam hurt any one, and af- firmed that the race came to it's ruin by hamilton while Calvin held that the race came to Its ruin by imputation. The doc- Urine of original sin is the point in dis pute and not the salvation of infants So Calvin introduces infants as an illustra- tion of the absurdity of the position of the Pelagian, since little infants cannot initiate anybody. Nothing could have been more effective than just this form of ar gument, since the Pelagian had no means In his system of thought for saving in- fants of original sin he admitted as in- yolving the race in ruin from any cause, and Calvin would throw himself back on the power of the spirit to regenerate, even in the womb, without the hearing of the word or the exercise of faith. which Is the ordinary process in the case of the adult This Is so plain that it is astound- ing that scholarship should have ever been puzzled by any other Interpretation Tn Calvin's disputations with Pighius occurs this passage
 l" If Pighius holds that original sin is not sufficient to damn men, and that the secret counsel of God is not to be adnitted, what will he (Pighius) do with children and infants who before they have reached an age at which they can give any such specimens (of good or evil works) are snatched from this life? When the condition of birth and death was alike to infants who died in Sodom and in Jerusalem, and there was no dif- ference in their works, why will Christ, at the last day, with same standing at 'ii~ right hand, separate others at His left?
 Here was an attempt to thrust the doctrine of works in salvation by insert ing the blade of logic of little children who had had an opportunity to mani fest their disposition in works of am kind. The injustice of damning the in- fants of Sodom, without works, is made apparent by saving the infants of Jeru- o1a ruth n