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THE OLD DOCTRINE.
37

"Of the infants of believers only, who die of an age before they can be indoctrinated, we determine that they are saved," &c.

And when the judgments of all the foreign divines present in the Synod had been rendered, the President, Bogerman, said by way of conclusion, that "they ought to thank God for the entire harmony of the foreigners in the business of doctrine; and God grant," he added, "that the like uniformity may be found among the natives." And the like uniformity was found among the natives. The deputies from Utrecht said: "Election and reprobation take place even among infants." The judgment of those from Overyssel stands recorded in almost the same words: "There is election and reprobation even among infants." And in equally strong terms did the deputies from the province of Drenthe express their judgment: "We determine that the infants of unbelivers, dying in infancy, are reprobated. 1 Cor. vii.; Rom. xi."[1]

Suffice to say, that there were twenty-one different "judgments" read before this famous Synod of Dort, upon that article of the Remonstrants involving the question of the final state of those who die in infancy. And of these, ten were decidedly in favor of the doctrine of infant damnation, while not one of them was opposed to it; and to have been silent on the subject must have been considered as a sign of acquiescence with the opinions of those who gave in their

  1. Acta Dord. Jud. Theol. Prov. pp. 49, 69, 83.