of baptism at the Easter Vigil.1 On the other hand, by the later Middle Ages, baptism in the West was usually an automatic process. Confirmation had become an episcopal rite, and from the late thirteenth century confirmation in England was made a requisite for Holy Communion in order to gain full recognition.2
As people reflected on their religious experience, they took on more and more of a new life. The late medieval mystics are a clear example. Walter Hilton (who died in 1396) wrote a classic called The Scale of Perfection in which he takes for granted the sacramental effects of baptism but is much more interested in the relationship between what we would call spiritual renewal and the practice of penance, private confession.3 If you were to ask some of Walter Hilton’s contemporaries who read his work the difference between inward and outward baptism, they would probably have needed the question explained to them. They would not have thought in those terms. But I would hazard a guess that they would remain confident about the effectiveness of the outward baptism given by the Church but would then wax more than lyrical about the different ways in which ‘inward baptism’ is experienced in Christian prayer, contemplation, and living. There is some evidence to suggest that Hilton, perhaps uniquely for his time, built an important bridge between the theological and sacramental traditions of the Church, and the nurturing of the lives of lay folk through knowledge of the scriptures and a spirituality accessible to them. That inevitably makes him a significant figure in the pre-Reformation scene, not least for the strand of Reformation piety often referred to as ‘Puritan’.
Inward and outward baptism form perhaps the most significant part of the teaching of William Perkins.4 Sadly, Perkins is little known these days, partly because he has been overshadowed by the work of Richard Hooker and Lancelot Andrewes, whom we shall look at in subsequent chapters. But the truth of the matter is that he was a far more popular communicator in his own time than either of the other two figures. For example, his A Golden Chain, which first appeared in 1590, went through nine editions in thirty years. It was translated into Dutch and German, and other works by him were translated into many other languages, including Spanish and French.
Perkins was born in Warwickshire and went up to Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1577, where he associated with the more strongly Protestant part of the English Church, often called Puritan. After graduating, he obtained a Fellowship at Christ’s College, and acted as a volunteer chaplain at Cambridge jail. He was soon made Lecturer at Great St Andrew’s, which was a poor parish, attended by members of the university as well as townsfolk. Lecturers were appointed by the parishes, not the bishop, and the post was effectively that of a senior curacy with the particular task of preaching. There he stayed until his death, and we are told that his preaching and pastoral ministry became part of Cambridge folklore. There are indications that he was not entirely happy with the Prayer Book and this may explain why he remained a Lecturer for the duration of his ministry, since he could thereby avoid questions being asked about his attitude to, for example, vesture and kneeling for the reception of Holy Communion. Perkins represents a more moderate form of Puritanism than that of Thomas Cartwright. He was determined to stay firmly within the Church of England in order to change it from inside. He has had his successors in many generations since, who have been intent on blowing fervour and understanding into the historic formularies of the Church as these are actually celebrated in parish churches.
There are three particular works that tell us about his views on baptism. The first – a very popular one – is called A Golden Chain or The Description of Theology.5
A Golden Chain demonstrates Perkins’ style as a clear and fluent writer. Very near the start comes the statement that ‘theology is the science of living blessedly forever’.6 He then discusses God – his nature and his life, his glory and blessedness, the Trinity, God’s works – and moves on to man and his fall, original sin, Jesus Christ, the two natures in Christ, and the work and ministry of Christ.
At this stage, he turns towards the sacraments, and in four chapters (31–4) discusses what he calls the ‘covenant of grace’, the sacraments in general, and baptism and the Lord’s Supper.7
For Perkins, the Covenant of Grace – as for many of the Reformers – is a biblical image to describe the relationship of free grace between God and humanity which is sealed in Christ. The covenant’s purpose is ‘to manifest that righteousness in Christ whereby the whole law is fully satisfied and salvation attained’.8 He goes on to describe it as ‘the conduit pipe of the Holy Ghost’. Those who knew about architecture at the time will have warmed to that image of the conduit pipe, much beloved, too, of Lancelot Andrewes,9 because this was a way of ensuring that clean water could be available to townsfolk, at least those who lived in the right place.
He defines a sacrament as ‘that whereby Christ and his saving graces are by external rite signified, exhibited and sealed to a Christian man’.10 And he distinguishes the two words of institution, the commandment (‘go into the whole world baptizing them in the name etc.’ – Matt. 28:19), and the promise (‘I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’). Then comes the crunch: ‘the covenant of grace is absolutely necessary to salvation . . . but a sacrament is not absolutely necessary, but only as it is a prop and stay for faith to lean upon.’11 Here, Perkins departs from Catholic tradition – and also from Jewel and Whitgift – most obviously, because he sets the covenant of grace above the sacraments. This is most clearly to be seen in the table which he gives to describe the outward and the inward baptism (see pp. 28–29).
Perkins wants to have his baptismal cake and eat it! The inward and the outward are so clearly delineated that he gives the impression of wanting to put a wedge between the inward and the outward – and yet he wants to hold them together. The outward baptism, as he explains in the accompanying text in A Golden Chain, consists of three parts, namely the sprinkling or dipping in the water, continuance in water, and arising from water. The person being baptized is to do two things: give his body to be washed, and receive that washing.12 He does not seem entirely happy with what the outward baptism does in relation to the inward. ‘The party baptized doth receive the internal washing which is by the blood of Christ, or at least it is offered unto him.’ He switches from dying-and-rising to the image of rebirth in order to counter the claims of Anabaptists, who would only baptize adults: ‘re-baptising is at no hands to be admitted, for as in natural generation man is only once born, so it is in spiritual regeneration’. He is more confident, however, about the inward baptism and its relationship to the forgiveness of sins:
For although baptism be but once only administered, yet that once testifieth that all men’s sins past, present and to come are washed away . . . Therefore baptism may be truly termed the sacrament of repentance and, as it were, a board to swim upon when a man shall fear the shipwreck of his soul. Last of all, see thou never rest till such time as thou have a feeling of that renewing power signified in baptism: namely the power of Christ’s death mortifying sin and the virtue of his resurrection in the renovation of the spirit.13
Perkins defines baptism as ‘a sacrament by which such as are within the covenant are washed with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost . . . These are either of riper years or infants.’14 Those of riper years can be baptized on their own promises but infants are baptized on the basis of their parents’ faith. They bring their children into the covenant, even though their age prevents them from actually believing. The solemn covenant is simply this: God receives the believer with favour, and the baptized promise to acknowledge and worship him.
When discussing the methods of baptism, Perkins is aware of the lavish use of water in antiquity and suggests this as appropriate for those of riper years, but follows many of the Reformers in allowing sprinkling for small babies because of climate and the possible danger to health.15
The
