Excerpt from An Essay in Favour of the Ancient Practice of Giving the Eucharist to Children Men are apt to run into extremes in this matter as well as others. Some cry up antiquity as a rule, tothe great difparagement of the holy fcriptures: Others, though few, think it not worth their Rudy. The middle way between both feems to be the moit juf't and prudent. This way I have indea vour'd to take, and if I at any time have been out of it, it has been through miftake and inadverten cy. I acknowledge no antiquity is a fufiicient warrant for the eftablifhing or reviving any ufage, which has no foundation in the holy fcriptures, which are the only rule of my faith and practice in matters of religion. But the deference I pay to antiquity is this 5 that when I meet with any thing that was very anciently and generally practis'd by chrif'tians, I am much inclin'd to examine and fearch whether I can difcover any foundation for it in the holy fcriptures. If I can difcover any thing of this nature, I can't but wiih we therein follow'd both the fcripture rule, and the example which the primitive chrif'tians have fet us: But if I can find nothing of it in fcripture, I am not, I confefs, much inclined to an implicit faith in the mofl ear ly antiquity, or to conform my practice to theirs. For if there fhould happen to be a foundation for their notion in the fcriptures, which I am not able to difcover, my falling in with it will not be an acceptable obedience to God, fince I pay a regard therein to fallible, though good, men, and not to the fure revelation he has given us of his mind and will. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.