Pedobaptism: is It from Heaven or of Men?

Prefatory Note. Instead of a formal preface, simply a few words will be offered by way of explanation. When this work was begun, nothing could have been further from the authors expectations and intentions than to write a book. His only purpose was to give the subject a thorough investigation for himself. As it opened up before him, however, and as his interest increased, he determined, in the midst of the investigations, to give the result of his labors to the public, selecting the Western Recorder as the medium. The following chapters were, therefore, originally designed as so many articles of a serial for that paper. This fact will account for the marked personal cast they sometimes assume in the way of appeal. Their publication in book-form was first suggested by one of Kentucky soldest and most judicious pastors, to whom the entire manuscript was read, and whose judgment and opinion deserved the utmost confidence and respect. The advice to put the matter into a small book was taken, partly because it had become rather bulky for a newspaper publication, but especially because it was hoped that by giving to it a more permanent form, more good would eventually be accomplished, which was the sole reason for publishing at all. It would, perhaps, be well to state also that scattered along through the work, in every chapter, and especially in Chapters IV., YI. and X., are to be found a large number of concessions from Pedobaptist authors. Many of these are new, and all of them very valuable, and if widely circulated will be for the furtherance of gospel truth. Special mention might be made of those quotations, taken from the recent controversy on this subject, published in the Southern (M ethodist) Review and conducted by two Methodist divines Kev. A. T. Bledsoe, editor of the Review, and one of his brethren, of considerable notoriety in this State. These will
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)