Dr. Judson's Account of His Conversion to the Baptist Faith.
The following is from Dr. Judson's own account of his conversion to the faith of the Baptists. It is copied from Wayland's Life of Judson. It shows a love of the truth of God's word, and an unbending integrity, a determination to walk in the path of duty without regard to worldly consequences, which are, alas, too seldom seen in these days. The Baptists commend this spirit in Judson; would that they would follow his example when other reforms and duties are presented from the word of God. “It was on board the vessel, in prospect of my future life among the heathen, that I was led to investigate this important subject. I was going forth to proclaim the glad news of salvation through Jesus Christ. I hoped that my ministrations would be blessed to the conversion of souls. In that case, I felt that I should have no hesitation concerning my duty to the converts, it being plainly commanded in Scripture that such are to be baptized, and received into church fellowship. But how, thought I, am I to treat the unconverted children and domestics of the converts? Are they to be considered members of the church of Christ by virtue of the conversion of the head of the family, or not? If they are, ought I not to treat them as such? After they are baptized, can I consistently set them aside, as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, until they are readmitted? If they are not to be considered members of the church, can I consistently administer to them the initiating ordinance of the church? “If I adopt the Abrahamic covenant, and consider the Christian Church a continuation of the Abrahamic or Jewish system, I must adopt the former part of the alternative. I must consider the children and domestics of professors as members of the church, and treat them accordingly. Abraham, according to the terms of the covenant which God made with him, circumcised not only his own sons, but all the males that were born in his house, or bought with money. His male descendants, in the line of Isaac and Jacob, were entitled to the same ordinance, by virtue of natural descent, and, together with their domestics, composed the ancient church, and were entitled to all its privileges. This is put beyond a doubt by the single fact that, in the Abrahamic community, or the society of Israel, there was no separate party calling themselves, by way of distinction, the church, and saying to others, who were equally circumcised with themselves, Stand by; touch not the passover; we are holier than you. No. All the members of the community or nation were of course members of the church. They were entitled to church membership by birth or purchase. Their church membership was recognized, or they were initiated into the church by circumcision; and in subsequent life they partook of the passover, which was the standing sacrament of the church, analogous to the Lord's Supper, and enjoyed all the rights and privileges of the church, unless they were excommunicated, or, in Scriptural language; ‘cut off from the people.’ “Now, let me be consistent. Since I am exhorted to walk in the steps of father Abraham, let me follow him with the same faithfulness which procured him eminent praise. Let me not adopt some parts of his covenant, and reject others, as suits my own convenience, or accords with the notions in which I have been educated. Nor let me complain for want of example and prescription. Behold the established church of England. She proves herself, in many respects, a worthy daughter of the Abrahamic or Jewish Church. She receives into her charitable bosom all the descendants of professors, and all those who, though not of her seed, belong to the families of professors; and these collectively come, in process of time, to comprise the whole nation. This is truly Abrahamic. This is the very system which the ancestors of the Jewish race, and their succeeding rulers and priests, uniformly maintained. And if I claim an interest in the Abrahamic covenant, and consider the Christian Church a continuation of the Jewish, why should I hesitate to prove myself a true child of Abraham, and a consistent Christian, by adopting this system in all its parts, and introducing it among the heathen? “But I considered again: How does this system accord with the account of the church of Christ given in the New Testament? It appeared to me, from the manner in which this church commenced and was continued, from the character of its members, and, in fine, from its whole economy, so far as detailed in the New Testament, that it was a company consisting of select individuals, men and women, who gave credible evidence of being disciples of Christ; and that it had no regard to natural descent, or accidental connection with the families of professors.”