At the request of the Georgia Baptist Association, one of the leading Baptists in the south, Jesse Mercer, compiled a History of the Georgia Baptist Association first published in 1838. In Part 2 entitled "Queries Propounded and Answered" Mercer qualifies the sources for the section from which the question below is taken stating the
"Queries and Answers [were found] upon an old sheet of paper, which appears to be a part of the Minutes of some of the first Sessions of the Association; but as this document has no date, we are unable to say positively, in what year these Minutes were taken; — probably as far back as 1785-6.” (p.82)"
Hence while the date for the queries cannot be certain, we may reasonably presume it to be several years prior to the publication date of Mercer's historical compilation (1838). Question 5 remains particularly interesting so far as the subject of infants dying in infancy is concerned.
Question 5 along with the association's answer (p.82; original punctuation retained):
5. “By a Methodist. — “Is it principally held and preached among you, that God damns infants?
Ans. IS NOT!!”
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