- “Through Abraham the blessing descends upon all who have Abraham's faith, and upon no others. All who die in infancy, we have reason to believe, are saved; but as infants have no faith, they are not entitled to membership in visible churches” (italics original here and below p.22)
- “If one asks, Who are the children of the covenant, the true reply is, The children of Abraham. If it is asked, Who are the children of Abraham, the true reply is, They that have Abraham's faith. As infants cannot believe, they cannot be, in the language of Paul, the children of Abraham ; and as they are not the children of Abraham, they cannot be the children of the covenant of grace, whatever may be said of them as children of the covenant of circumcision” (p.211)
- “In 18:6 he is represented as saying, these little ones which believe in me. It may be very true that infants will be saved, —the writer has no doubt they will be, — and in that sense, dying, become members of the kingdom of heaven; but what Christ teaches in 18:6 is that the "little ones" are those who believe, whatever their age. If one has personal faith in Christ at the age of four years, and this, doubtless, is in some cases possible, he is a "little one;" and this is equally true of one who is eighty years of age” (p.220)
- “The human being that dies in infancy will be saved, there is good reason to believe, but not through faith. He will be saved by virtue of the atonement; and the mere fact that Christ has made an atonement which may avail for dying infants is not a reason why infants should be baptized” (p.325)
--Nathaniel M. Williams, The Gospel According to Matthew: With Notes Extended for Sabbath Schools, Families, and Ministers, Southern Baptist Publication Society, Memphis Tenn. 1870
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