On Baptism

BLESSED IS OUR SACRAMENT OF WATER: because by washing away the sins of our earlier blindness, we are set free and welcomed into eternal life. A treatise on this subject is not unnecessary. It will teach not only those who are just beginning to be formed in the faith, but also those who, satisfied with simply believing without fully examining the basis of the traditions, hold in their minds, through ignorance, a faith that is untested, though believable. As a result, a viper from the Cainite heresy, recently active in this area, has led many away with her deadly teaching, making it her first goal to destroy baptism. This is quite in keeping with nature, for vipers and asps and basilisks usually prefer dry and waterless places. But we, little fishes, following the example of our ΙΧΘΥΣ, Jesus Christ, are born in water, and we have safety in no other way than by continuing to remain in water. So that most monstrous creature, who had no right even to teach sound doctrine, knew very well how to kill the little fishes: by taking them away from the water.

BUT HOW GREAT IS THE FORCE OF PERVERSITY: that it so shakes faith, or entirely prevents its reception, that it attacks faith on the very principles of which faith consists! There is absolutely nothing that makes men's minds more hard than the simplicity of the divine works seen in the act, when compared with the greatness promised in the result. So it happens that, because with such great simplicity, without pomp, without any notable novelty of preparation, and finally without expense, a man is dipped in water, and amid the speaking of a few words is sprinkled, and then rises again not much cleaner, or not cleaner at all, the gaining of eternity that follows is thought all the more incredible. I am a deceiver if, on the contrary, it is not from their circumstance, and preparation, and expense, that the solemnities or mysteries of idols build up their credit and authority. O miserable unbelief, which completely denies to God His own properties, simplicity and power! What then? Is it not wonderful too, that death should be washed away by bathing? But it is all the more to be believed if its wonderfulness is the reason why it is not believed. For what should divine works be in their quality, except that they are above all wonder? We ourselves also wonder, but it is because we believe. Unbelief, on the other hand, wonders, but does not believe. At the simple acts it wonders, as if they were empty. At the great results, as if they were impossible. And even if I grant that it is just as you think, the divine declaration that went before is enough to answer each point: "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound its wisdom," and, "The things very difficult with men are easy with God." For if God is wise and powerful, which even those who pass Him by do not deny, it is with good reason that He places the material causes of His own operation in the opposites of wisdom and power, that is, in foolishness and impossibility, since every virtue receives its cause from the things by which it is called forth.

MINDFUL OF THIS DECLARATION AS A CONCLUSIVE RULE: we nevertheless go on to discuss the question: how foolish and impossible it is to be formed anew by water. In what respect, I ask, has this material substance earned an office of such high dignity? The authority of this liquid element, I suppose, must be examined. Yet this is found in abundance, and that from the very beginning. For water is one of those things which, before all the furnishing of the world, rested with God in a state not yet formed. In the first beginning, Scripture says, "God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was invisible and unorganized, and darkness was over the abyss; and the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the waters." The first thing, O man, that you have to honor is the age of the waters, because their substance is ancient. The second is their dignity, because they were the seat of the Divine Spirit, no doubt more pleasing to Him than all the other elements that then existed. For up to that point darkness was complete, shapeless, and without the ornament of stars. The abyss was gloomy. The earth was unfurnished. The heaven was unfinished. Water alone, always a perfect, gladsome, simple material substance, pure in itself, supplied a worthy vehicle for God. What about the fact that the waters were in some way the regulating powers by which God afterward established the ordering of the world? He caused the suspension of the heavenly firmament in the midst by dividing the waters. He accomplished the suspension of the dry land by separating the waters. After the world had then been set in order through its elements, and inhabitants were given to it, the waters were the first to receive the command to bring forth living creatures. Water was the first to produce what had life, so that in baptism it might be no wonder if waters know how to give life. For was not the work of forming man himself also carried out with the help of waters? Suitable material is found in the earth, yet it is not fit for the purpose unless it is moist and juicy. The waters, having been separated four days earlier into their own place, temper the earth with their remaining moisture to a clay-like consistency. If, from that time onward, I go on recounting more generally, or at greater length, the proofs of the authority of this element that I can bring forward, to show how great its power or its grace is, how many ingenious devices, how many functions, how useful an instrumentality it provides to the world, I fear that I may seem to have gathered the praises of water rather than the reasons for baptism. Yet by this I would teach all the more fully that it must not be doubted that God has made the material substance which He has disposed throughout all His products and works obey Him also in His own sacraments, and that the material substance which governs earthly life acts as an agent likewise in the heavenly.

BUT IT IS ENOUGH: at the beginning, to point out those things in which that first principle of baptism is recognized. Even back then, it was already foreshadowed by the very position taken as a sign of baptism: the Spirit of God, who hovered over the waters from the beginning, would continue to rest over the waters of those being baptized. Of course, a holy thing hovered over something holy. Or else, what was being hovered over borrowed holiness from that which hovered over it, since in every case the material beneath must receive the quality of that which hangs over it, especially when a bodily thing receives from a spiritual thing, because the spiritual, by the fineness of its substance, is suited both to penetrate and to spread into it. So the nature of the waters, having been made holy by the Holy One, also received the power to make holy. Let no one say, then, "Why, then, are we baptized with the very same waters that existed at the first beginning?" Certainly not with those very same waters, except in this sense: the kind is one, but the particular forms are many. But what belongs to the kind also appears again in the particular forms. And so it makes no difference whether a person is washed in the sea or in a pool, in a stream or in a spring, in a lake or in a trough. Nor is there any difference between those whom John baptized in the Jordan and those whom Peter baptized in the Tiber, unless perhaps the eunuch whom Philip baptized during his journey with whatever water happened to be there received more or less salvation than others. Acts 8:26-40 Therefore, all waters, because of the original privilege of their origin, after God is invoked, obtain the sacramental power of making holy. For the Spirit at once comes down from heaven and rests over the waters, making them holy by His own presence. And once they are made holy in this way, they also take in the power of making holy. Although this likeness may be accepted as fitting for the outward act, namely, that since we are defiled by sins as if by dirt, we should be washed from those stains in water. But sins do not appear in our flesh, since no one carries on his skin the stain of idolatry, or fornication, or fraud. Rather, people of that sort are filthy in spirit, because the spirit is the source of sin. For the spirit is master, and the flesh is servant. Yet each shares in the guilt with the other: the spirit because it commands, and the flesh because it obeys. Therefore, after the waters have in a certain way been given healing power through the ministry of the angel, the spirit is bodily washed in the waters, and the flesh is, in the same act, spiritually cleansed.

BUT THE NATIONS: who are strangers to all understanding of spiritual powers, give to their idols this same power of filling waters with the same effect. But they deceive themselves with widowed waters. For by washing they are initiated into certain sacred rites of some well-known Isis or Mithras. They also honor the gods themselves by washings. Moreover, by carrying water around and sprinkling it, they everywhere expiate country houses, homes, temples, and whole cities. At any rate, at the Apollinarian and Eleusinian games they are baptized. And they think that the effect of doing this is their regeneration and the remission of the penalties due for their perjuries. Among the ancients too, whoever had defiled himself with murder used to go in search of purifying waters. Therefore, if the mere nature of water, because it is the proper material for washing away, leads men to flatter themselves with a belief in omens of purification, how much more truly will waters render that service through the authority of God, by whom all their nature has been established! If men think that water is endowed with a healing power by religion, what religion is more effective than that of the living God? Since this is acknowledged, we recognize here also the zeal of the devil rivaling the things of God, when we find that he too practices baptism in those who belong to him. What likeness is there? The unclean cleanses! The ruiner sets free! The damned absolves! He will, of course, destroy his own work by washing away the sins that he himself inspires! These remarks have been written down by way of testimony against those who reject the faith. If they put no trust in the things of God, they do trust in the false imitations of them in the case of God's rival. Are there not other cases too, in which, even without any sacrament, unclean spirits brood over waters, in false imitation of that brooding of the Divine Spirit in the very beginning? Consider all shady springs, all lonely brooks, the pools in baths, the water channels in private houses, and the cisterns and wells that are said to have the power of carrying people away, through the power, that is, of a harmful spirit. Men whom waters have drowned, or afflicted with madness or with fear, they call nymph-caught, or lymphatic, or hydrophobic. Why have we brought forward these examples? So that no one may think it too hard to believe that a holy angel of God should grant his presence to waters, to temper them for man's salvation, while the evil angel often has profane dealings with the same element for man's ruin. If it seems like something new for an angel to be present in waters, an earlier example of what was going to happen came first. By his intervention, an angel used to stir the pool at Bethsaida. Those who were suffering from sickness used to watch for him. For whoever was the first to go down into it, after washing, was healed. This figure of bodily healing proclaimed a spiritual healing, according to the rule that bodily things always come first as figures of spiritual things. And so, when the grace of God advanced to higher degrees among men, John 1:16-17, an added efficacy was granted to the waters and the angel. Those that used to remedy bodily defects now heal the spirit. Those that used to bring temporal salvation now renew eternal salvation. Those that used to set free only once a year now save whole peoples daily, since death is done away through the washing away of sins. When guilt is removed, of course the penalty is removed too. Thus man, who in former days had been conformed to the image of God, will be restored for God to His likeness. The image is understood to be in his form; the likeness in his eternity. For he receives again that Spirit of God which he had first received from His breath, but afterward lost through sin.

IT IS NOT THAT WE RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE WATER ITSELF: Rather, in the water, under the witness of the angel, we are made clean and prepared for the Holy Spirit. Here too, a foreshadowing came first. In this way John was the Lord's forerunner beforehand, preparing His ways, as in Luke 1:76. In the same way, the angel, the witness of baptism, makes the paths straight for the Holy Spirit, who is about to come upon us, by washing away sins. Faith obtains this, when it is sealed in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For if every word is established by the mouth of three witnesses, then how much more does the number of the divine names also suffice to assure our hope? Through the blessing, we have these same three as witnesses of our faith, and we also have them as guarantees of our salvation. Moreover, after the pledge of both the testimony of faith and the promise of salvation under three witnesses, mention of the Church is necessarily added. Since wherever there are three, that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there is the Church, which is the body of the three.

AFTER THIS: when we come up from the baptismal water, we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed oil. This practice comes from the old order, in which men entering the priesthood used to be anointed with oil from a horn, ever since Aaron was anointed by Moses. For this reason Aaron is called Christ, from the chrism, which is the anointing. When this was made spiritual, it gave a fitting name to the Lord, because He was anointed with the Spirit by God the Father, as it is written in Acts: "For truly they were gathered together in this city against Your holy Son whom You have anointed." In the same way, in our case, the anointing is applied physically, that is, on the body, but it benefits us spiritually. It is just like the act of baptism itself. It is physical in that we are plunged into water, but its effect is spiritual, in that we are freed from sins.

NEXT: hands are laid on us, calling on and inviting the Holy Spirit through blessing. If human skill can call a spirit into water, and by the laying on of hands from above can join them together into one body with another spirit of clear sound, then is it not possible for God, in the case of His own instrument, to produce by holy hands a lofty spiritual harmony? But this, like the earlier rite, comes from the old sacramental practice in which Jacob blessed his grandsons, born to Joseph, Ephraim and Manasses. He laid his hands on them, crossing them, and indeed slanting one over the other. In this way, by tracing the figure of Christ, he even pointed ahead to the future blessing in Christ. Then the Holiest Spirit gladly comes down from the Father upon our cleansed and blessed bodies. Over the waters of baptism, recognizing there, so to speak, His first seat, He rests. He is the One who came down on the Lord in the form of a dove, so that the nature of the Holy Spirit might be made known by a creature that is a symbol of simplicity and innocence, because even in its bodily form the dove is literally without gall. And so He says, "Be simple as doves." Even this is not without the witness of an earlier figure. For after the waters of the flood, by which the old wickedness was washed away — after the baptism, so to speak, of the world — a dove was the messenger that announced to the earth that heaven's wrath had calmed, when she was sent out from the ark and returned with the olive branch, a sign that even among the nations is a forewarning of peace. So too, by the same rule of heavenly action, the dove of the Holy Spirit flies to the earth — that is, to our flesh — as it comes up from the font after its old sins, bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens where the Church is, the ark that was prefigured. But the world returned to sin, and in this respect baptism would be a poor comparison to the flood. And so the world is destined for fire, just as the person is too who renews his sins after baptism. Therefore this also should be taken as a sign for our warning.

HOW MANY: then, are the claims of nature, how many the privileges of grace, how many the solemn rites of discipline, the figures, the preparations, and the prayers, which have appointed the holiness of water! First, when the people, set free without condition, escaped the violence of the Egyptian king by crossing through water, it was water that put out the king himself, with all his forces, Exodus 14:27-30. What figure is more clearly fulfilled in the sacrament of baptism? The nations are set free from the world by means of water. That is, they leave the devil, their old tyrant, far behind, overwhelmed in the water. Again, water is restored from the failure of bitterness to the grace of its own natural sweetness by the tree of Moses. That tree was Christ, restoring, by Himself, the veins of a nature that had once been poisoned and bitter into the altogether health-giving waters of baptism. This is the water that flowed without ceasing down for the people from the rock that went with them. For if Christ is the Rock, without doubt we see baptism blessed by the water in Christ. How mighty is the grace of water, in the sight of God and His Christ, for the confirmation of baptism! Christ is never without water. For He Himself is baptized in water, Matthew 3:13-17. He first reveals the opening signs of His power in connection with water, when He is invited to the wedding feast, John 2:1-11. When He speaks, He invites the thirsty to His own everlasting water, John 7:37-38. When teaching about love, He approves, among works of charity, a cup of water offered to a poor child, Matthew 10:42. He rests at a well, John 4:6. He walks over the water, Matthew 14:25. He willingly crosses the sea, Mark 4:36. He ministers water to His disciples, John 13:1-12. The witness of baptism continues even to the passion. As He is being handed over to the cross, water intervenes in Pilate's washing of his hands. When He is wounded, water bursts out from His side. The soldier's lance bears witness.

AS FAR AS OUR LIMITED ABILITY ALLOWED: we have spoken about the main points that form the foundation of the holiness of baptism. Now I will go on, as best I can, to the rest of its nature, dealing with certain smaller questions.

THE BAPTISM ANNOUNCED BY JOHN WAS: even at that time, the subject of a question. The Lord Himself indeed put it to the Pharisees, whether that baptism was heavenly, or truly earthly. About this they were unable to give a consistent answer, since they did not understand, because they did not believe. But we, with as small a measure of understanding as of faith, are able to decide that that baptism was indeed divine, yet in respect to the command, not also in respect to its efficacy. For we read that John was sent by the Lord to carry out this duty. But in its nature it was human. For it conveyed nothing celestial, but served beforehand for things celestial. That is, it was appointed over repentance, which is in man's power. In fact, the doctors of the law and the Pharisees, who were unwilling to believe, did not repent either. But if repentance is a human thing, its baptism must necessarily be of the same nature. Otherwise, if it had been celestial, it would have given both the Holy Spirit and remission of sins. But no one either pardons sins or freely grants the Spirit except God only. Even the Lord Himself said that the Spirit would not descend on any other condition, except that He should first ascend to the Father, John 16:6-7. What the Lord was not yet conferring, of course the servant could not furnish. Accordingly, in the Acts of the Apostles, we find that men who had John's baptism had not received the Holy Spirit, whom they had not even known by hearing. That, then, was no celestial thing which furnished no celestial endowments. On the other hand, the very thing in John which was celestial, the Spirit of prophecy, so completely failed, after the transfer of the whole Spirit to the Lord, that he soon sent to ask whether He whom he himself had preached, whom he had pointed out when coming to him, were HE. And so the baptism of repentance, Acts 19:4, was treated as if it were a candidate for the remission and sanctification soon about to follow in Christ. For when John used to preach baptism for the remission of sins, Mark 1:4, the declaration was made with reference to future remission. For it is true, as it is, that repentance is first, remission follows after; and this is preparing the way, Luke 1:76. But he who prepares does not himself perfect. He procures for another to perfect. John himself declares that the celestial things are not his, but Christ's, by saying, "He who is from the earth speaks concerning the earth; He who comes from the realms above is above all;" and again by saying that he baptized in repentance only, but that One would soon come who would baptize in the Spirit and fire. Of course this is because true and stable faith is baptized with water, to salvation; pretended and weak faith is baptized with fire, to judgment.

BUT LOOK: some say, the Lord came and did not baptize. For we read, "And yet He used not to baptize, but His disciples," in John 4:2. As if John had really preached that He would baptize with His own hands. Of course, his words are not to be understood that way, but simply as spoken in an ordinary manner. Just as, for example, we say, "The emperor set forth an edict," or, "The prefect cudgelled him." Does the emperor in person set it forth, or the prefect in person cudgel? One whose ministers do a thing is always said to do it. So, "He will baptize you," must be understood as meaning, "Through Him," or, "Into Him, you will be baptized." But let not the fact that He Himself did not baptize trouble anyone. For into whom should He baptize? Into repentance? Then what use do you make of His forerunner? Into remission of sins, which He used to give by a word? Into Himself, whom by humility He was concealing? Into the Holy Spirit, who had not yet descended from the Father? Into the Church, which His apostles had not yet founded? And so, with that same baptism of John, His disciples used to baptize as ministers, with which John had baptized before as forerunner. Let no one think it was with some other baptism, because no other exists, except that of Christ afterward. Which, at that time, of course, could not be given by His disciples, since the glory of the Lord had not yet been fully attained, nor the efficacy of the font established through the passion and the resurrection. Because neither can our death see dissolution except by the Lord's passion, nor can our life be restored without His resurrection.

HOWEVER: when this rule is stated—that no one can attain salvation without baptism, mainly because of the Lord’s declaration, who says, “Unless one is born of water, he does not have life”—some people immediately raise cautious doubts, or rather bold ones. They ask how, according to that rule, salvation could be attained by the apostles, whom we do not find to have been baptized in the Lord, except for Paul. In fact, since Paul is the only one of them who has put on the garment of Christ’s baptism, then one of two things seems to follow. Either the danger facing all the others, who lack the water of Christ, is already decided, so that the rule may stand; or else the rule is canceled, if salvation has been appointed even for those who are unbaptized. I have heard doubts of that kind—the Lord is my witness—so that no one may think I am so reckless that I would invent, without being prompted, ideas which would make others doubtful.

AND NOW: as far as I am able, I will answer those who claim that the apostles were not baptized. For if they had received John's human baptism, and were desiring the Lord's baptism, then the Lord Himself had declared that baptism is one. He said to Peter, who wanted to be completely washed, "He who has once bathed has no need to wash a second time" in John 13:9-10. Of course, He would not have said this at all to someone who had not been baptized. So even here we have clear proof against those who, in order to destroy the sacrament of water, deny to the apostles even John's baptism. Can it seem believable that the way of the Lord, that is, John's baptism, had not yet been prepared in those persons who were appointed to open the way of the Lord throughout the whole world? The Lord Himself was baptized, even though He had no repentance due from Him. So was baptism not necessary for sinners? As for the fact that others were not baptized, those people were not companions of Christ, but enemies of the faith, teachers of the law, and Pharisees. From this fact another point may be drawn: since those who opposed the Lord refused to be baptized, those who followed the Lord were baptized, and were not of the same mind as their rivals. This is especially so because, if there was anyone to whom they were attached, the Lord had lifted John above him by His testimony, saying, "Among those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist."

Others make the suggestion—strained as it clearly is—that the apostles then received a kind of baptism when, in their small boat, they were splashed and covered by the waves. They also say that Peter himself was immersed enough when he walked on the sea. However, in my opinion, it is one thing to be sprinkled or overtaken by the force of the sea, and another thing to be baptized in obedience to the discipline of religion. But that small boat did represent the Church, because it is troubled on the sea—that is, in the world—by the waves, that is, by persecutions and temptations. And the Lord, as if sleeping through patience, remains so until, stirred in their final extremity by the prayers of the saints, He restrains the world and restores peace to His own.

NOW: whether they were baptized in any way at all, or whether they remained unbaptized to the end—so that even that saying of the Lord about the one bath, spoken in the person of Peter, concerns only us—still, it is audacious enough to decide about the salvation of the apostles. For in their case, the privilege of being chosen first, and afterward of having undivided closeness to Him, might have been able to grant the grace of baptism in brief, since they, I think, followed Him who was accustomed to promise salvation to every believer. He would say, "Your faith has saved you," and, "Your sins shall be remitted to you," on your believing, of course, although you are not yet baptized. If that was lacking in the apostles, then I do not know in faith of what things it was that, stirred by one word of the Lord, one left the toll booth behind forever, Matthew 9:9; another left father and ship, and the trade by which he made his living, Matthew 4:21-22; a third, who declined his father's burial, fulfilled, before he heard it, that highest precept of the Lord, "He who prefers father or mother to Me is not worthy of Me." Matthew 10:37

HERE: then, these wicked men raise objections. So they say, “Baptism is not necessary for those for whom faith is enough. After all, Abraham pleased God by a sacrament not of water, but of faith.” But in every case, later things have final authority, and what comes afterward takes precedence over what came before. Grant that, in earlier times, there was salvation through faith alone, before the Lord’s suffering and resurrection. But now faith has been enlarged. It has become a faith that believes in His birth, suffering, and resurrection. So an addition has been made to the sacrament, namely, the sealing act of baptism. In a sense, this is the clothing of the faith that was formerly bare, and that now cannot exist without its proper law. For the law of baptizing has been laid down, and the formula has been prescribed: “Go,” He says, “teach the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The comparison of that law with this statement, “Unless a man has been reborn of water and Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,” has bound faith to the necessity of baptism. Accordingly, after that, all who became believers used to be baptized. So also Paul, when he believed, was baptized. This is the meaning of the command the Lord gave him when he was struck with the affliction of blindness, saying, “Rise, and enter Damascus; there it shall be shown to you what you ought to do” — that is, to be baptized, which was the only thing he still lacked. Aside from that one point, he had already learned enough and had believed that the Nazarene is the Lord, the Son of God.

BUT THEY THROW BACK AN OBJECTION FROM THAT APOSTLE HIMSELF: when he said, "For Christ did not send me to baptize," 1 Corinthians 1:17, as if this argument did away with baptism. But if that were so, why did he baptize Gaius, Crispus, and the household of Stephanas? However, even if Christ had not sent him to baptize, He had still given the other apostles the command to baptize. But these words were written to the Corinthians because of the circumstances of that particular time. Schisms and divisions were being stirred up among them, while one person credited everything to Paul, and another to Apollos. For this reason the apostle who sought peace, fearing that he might seem to claim all gifts for himself, says that he was sent not to baptize, but to preach. For preaching comes first, and baptizing comes after it. Therefore, the preaching came first. But I think it was still lawful for the one who was given preaching also to baptize.

I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER ANY OTHER POINT IS BEING RAISED TO MAKE BAPTISM A MATTER OF CONTROVERSY: Let me mention what I left out above, so that I do not seem to break off my line of thought in the middle. For us, there is one baptism, and only one. This is true according to the Lord's gospel and according to the apostle's letters, since he says, "One God, and one baptism, and one church in the heavens." But we must admit that the question, "What rules should be followed regarding heretics?" is worth discussing. For that statement applies to us. However, heretics have no sharing in our discipline. The very fact that they are excommunicated shows that they are outsiders. I am not required to recognize among them something that is commanded for me, because they and we do not have the same God, nor one Christ—that is, the same Christ. Therefore their baptism is not one with ours either, because it is not the same. Since they do not have baptism properly, no doubt they do not have it at all. And what is not possessed cannot be counted. Ecclesiastes 1:15 So they cannot receive it either, because they do not have it. But we have already discussed this point more fully in Greek. So, we enter the baptismal water once. Sins are washed away once, because they should never be repeated. But Jewish Israel washes daily, because he is being defiled daily. And so, to prevent defilement from being practiced among us also, the rule about the one washing was established. Happy is the water that washes away sins once. It does not deceive sinners with empty hopes. And by being stained through repeated impurities, it does not again defile those whom it has washed.

WE ALSO HAVE A SECOND BAPTISMAL FOUNTAIN: which is really one with the first: the baptism of blood. About this the Lord said, "I have a baptism to be baptized with," even though He had already been baptized. For He had come by water and blood, as John wrote in 1 John 5:6. He was baptized by water and glorified by blood, so that in the same way we might be called by water and chosen by blood. He sent out these two baptisms from the wound in His pierced side, so that those who believed in His blood might be washed with water, and those who had been washed with water might also drink the blood. This is the baptism that takes the place of the baptismal washing when that has not been received, and restores it when it has been lost.

TO BRING OUR BRIEF DISCUSSION TO A CLOSE: it remains to remind you also about the proper way to observe the giving and receiving of baptism. As for giving it, the chief priest, that is, the bishop, has the right. Next come the presbyters and deacons, but not without the bishop's authority. This is because of the honor of the Church, and when that is preserved, peace is preserved. Besides these, even laymen have the right. For what is received equally can be given equally. If bishops, priests, or deacons are not present, other disciples are called to the work. The word of the Lord ought not to be hidden by anyone. In the same way, baptism, which equally belongs to God, can be administered by all. But how much more does the rule of reverence and modesty rest on laymen, since these powers belong to their superiors, so that they may not claim for themselves the bishop's special function. Rivalry against the episcopal office is the mother of schisms. The most holy apostle has said that all things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. So, in cases of necessity, let it certainly be enough for you to make use of that rule, if at any time the circumstances of place, or time, or person force you to do so. For then the firm courage of the one who gives help is exceptionally allowable when the condition of the one in danger is urgent. Since he will be guilty of the loss of a human being if he refuses to give what he had full freedom to give. But a bold woman, who has taken for herself the power to teach, will of course not also produce for herself a right to baptize, unless some new beast should arise like the former one, so that, just as one woman abolished baptism, some other woman should in her own right confer it. But if the writings that wrongly pass under Paul's name use Thecla's example as permission for women to teach and baptize, let them know that in Asia the presbyter who wrote that work, as if he were adding to Paul's fame from his own resources, was removed from office after he was convicted and confessed that he had done it out of love for Paul. For how believable would it seem that the one who did not permit a woman even to learn with over-boldness should give a woman the power to teach and to baptize? "Let them be silent," he says, "and at home consult their own husbands." 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

BUT THOSE WHOSE DUTY IT IS KNOW THAT BAPTISM SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN CARELESSLY: The saying, "Give to everyone who asks you," has its own meaning, and it applies especially to giving to the poor. Instead, this command should be considered more carefully: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine," Matthew 7:6, and, "Do not lay hands on anyone too quickly, and do not share in other people's sins." If Philip baptized the chamberlain so quickly, we should remember that clear and public evidence had come first that the Lord considered him worthy. Acts 8:26-40 The Spirit had commanded Philip to go to that road. The eunuch also was not idle, and he was not someone suddenly seized by a strong desire to be baptized. Rather, he had gone up to the temple to pray, and he was carefully reading the divine Scripture. In this way he was fittingly found. God had sent an apostle to him without his asking. Then the Spirit told that apostle to join himself to the chamberlain's chariot. The Scripture he was reading fit well with his faith. Philip, when invited, sat beside him. The Lord was pointed out to him. Faith did not delay. The water did not need to wait. The act was completed, and the apostle was snatched away. But Paul too was actually baptized quickly, because Simon, his host, quickly recognized that he was an appointed vessel of election. God's approval sends certain signs ahead of time. Every request can both deceive and be deceived. And so, according to each person's circumstances, disposition, and even age, delaying baptism is preferable. This is especially true in the case of little children. For why is it necessary, if baptism itself is not so necessary, that the sponsors also should be pushed into danger? They themselves may fail to carry out their promises because of death, and they may be disappointed by the development of an evil character in those for whom they stood. The Lord does indeed say, "Do not forbid them to come to me." Let them come, then, while they are growing up. Let them come while they are learning, while they are learning where they should come. Let them become Christians when they have become able to know Christ. Why does the innocent time of life hurry to the forgiveness of sins? People act with more caution in worldly matters, so that someone who is not trusted with earthly property is trusted with what is divine. Let them learn how to ask for salvation, so that you may seem, at least, to have given to the one who asks. For the same reason, the unmarried also should be delayed. In them the basis of temptation is prepared, both in those who have never been married because of their maturity, and in the widowed because of their freedom, until they either marry or else are strengthened more fully for self-control. If any understand the serious meaning of baptism, they will fear receiving it more than delaying it. Sound faith is secure of salvation.

PASSOVER PROVIDES A MORE SOLEMN DAY THAN USUAL FOR BAPTISM: especially since the Lord's suffering, in which we are baptized, was completed then. It will also not be improper to understand figuratively this fact: when the Lord was about to celebrate the last Passover, He said to the disciples who were sent to prepare it, "You will meet a man carrying water." By the sign of water, He points out the place for celebrating the Passover. After that, Pentecost is a very joyful season for giving baptisms. In that time also, the Lord's resurrection was repeatedly proved among the disciples, and the hope of the Lord's coming was indirectly pointed to. This was because, at that time, when He had been taken up into heaven, the angels told the apostles that He would come in the same way as He had ascended into heaven, at Pentecost, of course. But also, when Jeremiah says, "And I will gather them together from the ends of the land on the feast day," he means the day of Passover and of Pentecost, which is properly a feast day. However, every day belongs to the Lord. Every hour, every time, is suitable for baptism. If there is a difference in solemnity, there is no difference in the grace.

THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO ENTER BAPTISM OUGHT TO PRAY WITH REPEATED PRAYERS: fasts, bendings of the knee, and vigils through the whole night. They should also confess all their past sins, so that they may express the meaning even of John's baptism. For Scripture says, "They were baptized, confessing their own sins." To us, it is a matter for thankfulness if we now publicly confess our iniquities or our shameful acts. For at the same time we both make satisfaction for our former sins, by the mortification of our flesh and spirit, and lay beforehand the foundation of defenses against the temptations that will closely follow. "Watch and pray," says the Lord, "lest you fall into temptation." Matthew 26:41. And the reason, I believe, why they were tempted was that they fell asleep. So they deserted the Lord when He was apprehended. And he who continued to stand by Him, and used the sword, even denied Him three times. For the word had also gone before, that no one untempted should attain the celestial kingdoms. The Lord Himself also was surrounded by temptations immediately after baptism, when He had kept a fast of forty days. Then someone will say, "It becomes us also, rather, to fast after baptism." Very well. And who forbids you, unless it is the necessity for joy and thanksgiving for salvation? But as far as I, with my poor powers, understand, the Lord figuratively threw back on Israel the reproach they had cast on the Lord. For after the people crossed the sea, and were carried about in the desert during forty years, although they were nourished there with divine supplies, they nevertheless were more mindful of their belly and their gullet than of God. Thereupon the Lord, withdrawn into the wilderness after baptism, showed by keeping a fast of forty days that the man of God lives not by bread alone, but by the word of God. Matthew 4:1-4. And He showed that temptations that come with fullness or immoderation of appetite are shattered by abstinence. Therefore, blessed ones, whom the grace of God awaits, when you ascend from that most sacred font of your new birth, and spread your hands for the first time in the house of your mother, together with your brothers, ask from the Father, ask from the Lord, that His own special forms of grace and distributions of gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:4-12, may be supplied to you. "Ask," says He, "and you shall receive." Very well, you have asked, and have received. You have knocked, and it has been opened to you. Only, I pray that when you are asking, you may be mindful also of Tertullian the sinner.