Baptism and the Distinction of the Covenants

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“The very gift of Christ is called a covenant because where he is promised, all heavenly and spiritual blessings in him are there given.”

Baptism and the Distinction of the Covenants is the only surviving work from Thomas Patient, a signatory of the First London Baptist Confession of Faith (1644) and pastor in Dublin, Ireland. In this work, Patient refutes paedobaptism by arguing for a distinction between the covenant of circumcision and the covenant of life given to Abraham. Patient argues that the fundamental error of paedobaptists is in conflating these two covenants and maintaining a fleshly distinction in the covenant of life. The covenant of life is not made with the fleshly seed of believers, as coming out of their loins, but with all the spiritually elect in Christ who have repented of their sins and believed in the gospel.

Thomas Patient (d. 1666) was born in England and educated in Oxford or Cambridge. He became a Congregationalist and emigrated to New England for ministry. However, while in New England, he became convinced of believers baptism from the Scriptures and faced violent persecution for his new beliefs. Returning to England, he pastored alongside William Kiffin in London and was a signatory of the First London Baptist Confession of Faith (1644). He then moved to Ireland where the Lord blessed him with a fruitful ministry in Dublin.