An Apology for the True Christian Divinity/THESES THEOLOGICAE/THE TWELFTH PROPOSITION

THE TWELFTH PROPOSITION.

Concerning Baptism.

As there is one Lord and one faith, so there is one baptism; which is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience before God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this baptism is a pure and spiritual thing, to wit, the baptism of the spirit and fire, by which we are buried with him, that being washed and purged from our sins, we may walk in newness of life; of which the baptism of John was a figure, which was commanded for a time, and not to continue forever. As to the baptism of infants, it is a mere human tradition, for which neither precept nor practice is to be found in all the scripture.