MarginaliaAn. 1555. December.ready. I will send you my examinations as soone as I can get them written, if you be desirous of them.

God of his mercy fill your mercifull hart with all ioye and consolation of the hope to come. Out of the Colehouse, the. xix. of Nouemb.

Your own louer Iohn Philpot.

MarginaliaA letter of M. Philpot stablishing a certeine brother in the matter of baptising of infantes.THe God of all light and vnderstanding lighten your hart with all true knowledge of his word, and make you perfite to the day of our Lord IESVS CHRIST, wherunto you are now called through the mighty operation of his holy spirit, Amen.

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I receiued yesternight from you deare brother S. and felow prisoner for the truth of CHRISTES Gospell, a letter wherin you gently require my iudgement cōcernyng the Baptisme of Infantes, which is the effect therof. And before I do shew you what I haue learned out of Gods word and of his true and infallible church touchyng the same, I thinke it not out of the matter first to declare what vision I had the same night whiles musing on your letter I fell a sleepe, knowyng that God doth not without cause reuele to his people, who haue their mindes fixed on him, speciall and spirituall reuelations to their comfort, as a tast of their ioy, & kingdome to come, which flesh and bloud can not comprehend.

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MarginaliaA vision reueled to M. Philpot, vpon a letter to be answered.Beyng in the middest of my sweet rest, it semed me to see a great beautifull Citie all of the colour of Azer and white, foure square in a maruelous beautifull compositiō in the middest of the skye, the sight wherof so inwardly comforted me that I am not able to expresse the consolation I had thereof, yea the remembraunce therof causeth as yet my harte to leape for ioy, and as charitie is no churle but would others to be partakers of his delight, so me thought I called to others (I can not tell whom) and whiles they came and we together beheld the same, by and by to my great grief it vaded away.

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This dreame I thinke not to haue come of the illusiō of the senses, because it brought with it so much spirituall ioy, and I take it to bee of the workyng of Gods spirite for the contētation of your request, as he wrought in Peter to satisfie Cornelius. MarginaliaThe vision expounded.Therfore I interprete this beautiful Citie to be the glorious Church of CHRIST, and the appearaunce of it in the skye signifieth the heauenly state therof, whose cōuersation is in heauen, and that accordyng to the primatiue Church which is now in heauen, men ought to measure and iudge the Church of CHRIST now in earth, for, as the Prophet Dauid sayth, The fundations thereof be in the holy hilles, and glorious thynges be spoken of the Citie of God. And the meruelous quadrature of the same, I take to signfie the vniuersall agreement in the same, MarginaliaThe primitiue example for vs to follow.and that all the Church here militant ought to consent to the primitiue Church, throughout the foure partes of the world, as the Prophet affirmeth, saying: MarginaliaPsal. 67.God maketh vs to dwell after one maner in one house. And that I conceiued so wonderfull ioy at the contemplation therof, I vnderstand the vnspeakeable ioy which they haue that be at vnitie with CHRISTES primitiue Church: For there is ioy in the holy Ghost and peace which passeth all vnderstandyng, as it is written in the Psalmes: As of ioyfull persons, is the dwellyng of all them that be in thee. And that I called others to the fruitiō of this vision and to behold this wonderfull Citie, I conster it by the will of God this vision to haue come vpō me, musing on your letter, to the end that vnder this figure I might haue occasion to moue you with many others to behold the primatiue Church in al your opinions concernyng faith, and to cōfirme your selfe in all pointes to the same, which is the piller and stablishment of truth, and teacheth the true vse of the Sacramentes, and hauyng with a greater fulnes then we haue now the first fruites of the holy Ghost, did declare the true interpretation of the Scriptures accordyng to all veritie, euen as our Sauiour promised to sēd them another comforter, which shoulde teach them all truth.

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And since all truth was taught and reueled to the primatiue Churche which is our mother, let vs all that be obedient childrē of God submit our selues to the iudgement of that Church for the better vnderstandyng of the Articles of our faith and of the doubtfull sentences of the Scripture. Let vs not go about to shew in vs by folowyng any priuate mans interpretation vpon the word, an

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other spirite then they of the primatiue Church had, lest we deceaue our selues. For there is but one faith & one spirite, which is not contrary to him selfe, neither otherwise now teacheth vs then he did then. Therfore let vs beleue as they haue taught vs of the Scriptures, & be at peace with them, according as the true catholicke church is at this day: and the God of peace assuredly will be with vs and deliuer vs out of all our worldly troubles and miseries, and make vs partakers of their ioy and blisse through our obedience to fayth with them.

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Therfore God commaundeth vs in Iob,MarginaliaIob. 8. to aske of the elder generation and to search diligently the memory of the fathers. For we are but yesterdayes children and bee ignorant, & our dayes are lyke a shadow, and they shall teach thee (saith the Lord) and speake to thee and shal vtter wordes from their hartes. And by SalomonMarginaliaPro. 6. we are commaunded, not to reiect the direction of our mother. The Lord graūt you to direct your steppes in all things after her, and to abhorre all contention with her. For as S. Paul writeth:Marginalia1. Cor. 11. If any man be contētious, neither we neither the Church of God hath any such custome.

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Hetherto I haue shewed you good brother S. my iudgement generally of that you stand in doubt and dissent from others, to the which I wish you as mine own hart to be conformable, and then doubtles you can not erre, but boldly may be glad in your troubles and triumph at the houre of your death, that you shal dye in the Church of God a faithfull Martyr & receiue the crowne of eternall glory. And thus much haue I written vpon the occasion of a vision before God vnfained. But that you may not thinke, that I go about to satisfie you with vncerteine visions onely & not after Gods word, I will take the ground of your letter & MarginaliaProofe by testimonies and scriptures.specially aūswere to the same by the Scriptures and by vnfallible reasons deduced out of the same, and proue the Baptisme of Infants to be lawfull, commendable, and necessary, whereof you seeme to stand in doubt.

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In dede if you looke vpon the Papisticall Synagoge onely, which hath corrupted Gods word by false interpretations, and hath peruerted the true vse of CHRISTES Sacraments, you might seeme to haue good handfast of your opinion agaynst the Baptisme of Infātes. MarginaliaBaptisme of infantes of old antiquitie in the church.But for asmuch as it is of more antiquitie, and hath his begynnyng from Gods word and frō the vse of the primatiue Church, it must not in respect of the abuse in the Popishe church, be neglected, or thought not expedient to be vsed in CHRISTES Church.MarginaliaEuery thing abused in the Popes church is not therefore to be reiected, but the antiquitie thereof to be serched and to be reduced agayne to the same. Auxentius  

one of the Arrians sect with his adherentes, was one of the first that denied the Baptisme of children, and next after him Pelagius the hereticke,   & some other there were in S. Bernardes   time, as it doth appeare by his writynges, and in our dayes the Anabaptistes, an inordinate kynd of men stirred vp by the deuill to the destruction of the Gospell. But the Catholicke truth deliuered vnto vs by the Scriptures plainly determineth, that all such are to be Baptised, as whom God acknowledgeth for his people, and voucheth them worthy of sāctificatiō or remission of their sinnes. Therefore since that Infantes bee in the nomber or scrole of Gods people, and be partakers of the promise by their purification in CHRIST, it must nedes folow therby, that they ought to be Baptised, as well as those that cā professe their faith. MarginaliaThe people of God is to be iudged by his free promise, & not by their confession.For we iudge the people of God as well by the free and liberall promise of God, as by the confession of faith. For to whom soeuer God promiseth hym selfe to be their God, and whom he acknowledgeth for his, those no mā without great impietie may exclude frō the nomber of the faithfull. But God promiseth that he will not onely be the God of such as do professe him, but also of Infātes: promising them his grace & remission of sinnes, as it appeareth by the wordes of the couenaunt made vnto Abraham: MarginaliaGene. 17.I will set my couenaunt betwene thee and me (sayth the Lorde) and betwene thy seede after thee, in theyr generations, with an euerlastyng couenaunt, to be thy God and the God of thy seede after thee. To the which couenant circumcisiō was added to be a signe of sāctificatiō aswell in children as in men, and no man may thinke that this promise is abrogated with circumcision & other ceremoniall lawes. For CHRIST came to fulfyll the promises,MarginaliaMath. 5. and not to dissolue them. Therefore in the Gospell he sayth of Infantes, that is, of such as yet beleued not: MarginaliaMar. 10. Mat. 19.Let the lytle ones come vnto me and forbyd them not, for of such is the kingdome of heauen. Agayne: It is not the wyll of your Father whych is in heauen, that any of these lytle ones do perysh. Also: He that receaueth one such lyttle Chylde in my name, receaueth mee. MarginaliaMath. 18.Take heede therefore that ye despyse not one of these Babes, for I tell you, theyr Angels do continually see in heauen my fathers face.

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