THE SEVEN BOOKS OF AUGUSTIN, BISHOP OF HIPPO, ON BAPTISM, AGAINST THE
DONATISTS (BOOK VI)
BOOK VI.
IN WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE COUNCIL, OF CARTHAGE, HELD UNDER THE AUTHORITY AND
PRESIDENCY OF CYPRIAN, TO DETERMINE THE QUESTION OF THE BAPTISM OF HERETICS.
CHAP. 1.--1. It might perhaps have been sufficient, that after the reasons have been
so often repeated, and considered, and discussed with such variety of treatment,
supplemented too, with the addition of proofs from holy Scripture, and the
concurrent testimony of so many passages from Cyprian himself, even those who are
slow of heart should thus understand, as I believe they do, that the baptism of
Christ cannot be rendered void by any perversity on the part of man, whether
in administering or receiving it. And when we find that in those times, when the
point in question was decided in a manner contrary to ancient custom, after
discussions carried on without violation of saving charity and unity, it appeared
to some even eminent men who were bishops of Christ, among whom the blessed
Cyprian was specially conspicuous, that the baptism of Christ could not exist
among heretics or schismatics, this simply arose from their not distinguishing the
sacrament from the effect or use of the sacrament; and because its effect and
use were not found among heretics in freeing them from their sins and setting
their hearts right, the sacrament itself was also thought to be wanting among
them. But if we turn our eyes to the multitude of chaff within the Church, since
these also who are perverse and lead an abandoned life in unity itself appear
to have no power either of giving or retaining remission of sins, seeing that it
is not to the wicked but the good sons that it was said, "Whosesoever sins ye
remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are
retained,"(1) yet that such persons both have, and give, and receive the
sacrament of baptism, was sufficiently manifest to the pastors of the Catholic Church
dispersed over the whole world, through whom the original custom was afterwards
confirmed by the authority of a plenary Council; so that even the sheep which
was straying outside, and had received the mark of the Lord from false
plunderers outside, if it seek the salvation of Christian unity, is purified from error,
is freed from captivity, is healed of its wound, and yet the mark of the Lord
is recognized rather than rejected in it; since the mark itself is often
impressed both by wolves and on wolves, who seem indeed to be within the fold, but
yet are proved by the fruits of their conduct, in which they persevere even to
the end, not to belong to that sheep which is one in many; because, according to
the foreknowledge of God, as many sheep wander outside, so many wolves lurk
treacherously within, among whom the Lord yet knoweth them that are His, which
hear only the voice of the Shepherd, even when He calls by the voice of men like
the Pharisees, of whom it was said, "Whatsoever they bid you observe that
observe and do."(2)
2. For as the spiritual man, keeping "the end of the commandment," that
is, "charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned,"(3) can see some things less clearly out of a body which is yet "corruptible
and presseth down the soul,"(4) and is liable to be otherwise minded in some
things which God will reveal(5) to him in His own good time if he abide in the
same charity, so in a carnal and perverse man something good. and useful may be
found, which has its origin not in the man himself, but in some other source.
For as in the fruitful branch there is found something which must be purged that
it may bring forth more fruit, so also a grape is often found to hang on a
cane that is barren and dry or fettered. And so, as it is foolish to love the
portions which require purging in the fruitful branch, while he acts wisely who
does not reject the sweet fruit wherever it may hang, so, if any one cuts himself
off from unity by rebaptizing, simply because it seemed to Cyprian that one
ought to baptize again those who came from the heretics, such a mar turns aside
from what merits praise in that great man, and follows what requires correction,
and does not even attain to the very thing he follows after. For Cyprian, while
grievously abhorring, in his zeal for God, all those who severed themselves
from unity, thought that thereby they were separated from baptism itself; while
these men, thinking it at most a slight offense that they themselves are severed
from the unity of Christ, even maintain that His baptism is not in that unity,
but issued forth with them. Therefore they are so far from the fruitfulness of
Cyprian, as not even to be equal to the parts in him which needed purging.
CHAP. 2.--3. Again, if any one not having charity, and walking in the abandoned paths
of a most wicked life, seems to be within while he really is without, and at
the same time does not seek for the repetition of baptism even in the case of
heretics, it in no wise helps his barrenness, because he is not rendered fruitful
with his own fruit, but laden with that of others. But it is possible that some
one may flourish in the root of charity, and may be most rightly minded in the
point in which Cyprian was otherwise minded, and yet there may be more that is
fruitful in Cyprian than in him more that requires purging in him than in
Cyprian. Not only, therefore, do we not compare bad Catholics with the blessed
Cyprian, but even good Catholics we do not hastily pronounce to be on an equality
with him whom our pious mother Church counts among the few rare men of
surpassing excellence and grace, although these others may recognize the baptism of
Christ even among heretics, while he thought otherwise; so that, by the instance of
Cyprian, who saw one point less clearly, and yet remained most firm in the
unity of the Church, it might be shown more clearly to heretics what a
sacrilegious crime it was to break the bond of peace. For neither were the blind
Pharisees, although they sometimes enjoined what was right to be done, to be compared to
the Apostle Peter, though he at times enjoined what was not right. But not
only is their dryness not to be compared to his greenness, but even the fruit of
others may not be deemed equal to his fertility. For no one now compels the
Gentiles to judaize, and yet no one now in the Church, however great his progress
in goodness, may be compared with the apostle ship of Peter. Wherefore, while
rendering due reverence, and paying, so far as I can, I the fitting honor to the
peaceful bishop and glorious martyr Cyprian, I yet venture to say that his view
concerning the baptism of schismatics and heretics was contrary to that which
was afterwards brought to light by a decision, not of mine, but of the whole
Church, confirmed and strengthened by the authority of a plenary Council: just
as, while paying the reverence he deserves to Peter, the first of the apostles
and most eminent of martyrs, I yet venture to say that he did not do right in
compelling the Gentiles to judaize; for this also, I say, not of my own teaching,
but according to the wholesome doctrine of the Apostle Paul, retained and
preserved through out the whole Church.(1)
4. Therefore, in discussing the opinion of Cyprian, though myself of far
inferior merit to Cyprian, I say that good and bad alike can have, can give, can
receive the sacrament of baptism,--the good, indeed, to their health and
profit; the bad to their destruction and ruin,--while the sacrament itself is of
equal perfectness in both of them; and that it is of no consequence to its equal
perfectness in all, how much worse the man may be that has it among the bad,
just as it makes no difference how much better he may be that has it among the
good. And accordingly it makes no difference either how much worse he may be that
confers it, as it makes no difference how much better he may be; and so it
makes no difference how much worse he may be that receives it, as it makes no
difference how much better be may be. For the sacrament is equally holy, in virtue
of its own excellence, both in those who are unequally just, and in those who
are unequally unjust.
CHAP. 3.--5. But I think that we have sufficiently shown, both from the canon of
Scripture, and from the letters of Cyprian himself, that bad men, while by no means
converted to a better mind, can have, and confer, and receive baptism, of whom
it is most clear that they do not belong to the holy Church of God, though they
seem to be within it, inasmuch as they are covetous, robbers, usurers,
envious, evil thinkers, and the like; while she is one dove,(2) modest and chaste, a
bride without spot or wrinkle,(3) a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, an
orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits,(4) with all similar properties which
are attributed to her; and all this can only be understood to be in the good,
and holy, and just,--following, that is, not only the operations of the gifts of
God, which are common to good and bad alike, but also the inner bond of charity
conspicuous in those who have the Holy Spirit, to whom the Lord says,
"Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye
retain, they are retained."(1)
CHAP. 4.--6. And so it is clear that no good ground is shown herein why the bad man,
who has baptism, may not also confer it; and as he has it to destruction, so he
may also confer it to destruction,--not because this is the character of the
thing conferred, nor of the person conferring, but because it is the character of
him on whom it is conferred. For when a bad man confers it on a good man, that
is, on one in the bond of unity, converted with a true conversion, the
wickedness of him who confers it makes no severance between the good sacrament which
is conferred, and the good member of the Church on whom it is conferred. And
when his sins are forgiven him on his true conversion to God, they are forgiven by
those to whom he is united by his true conversion. For the same Spirit
forgives them, which is given to all the saints that cling to one another in love,
whether they know one another in the body or not. Similarly when a man's sins are
retained, they are assuredly retained by those from whom he, in whom they are
retained, separates himself by dissimilarity of life, and by the turning away of
a corrupt heart, whether they know him in the body or not.
CHAP. 5.--7. Wherefore all bad men are separated in the spirit from the good; but if
they are separated in the body also by a manifest dissension, they are made yet,
worse. But, as it has been said, it makes no difference to the holiness of
baptism how much worse the man may be that has it, or how much worse he that
confers it: yet he that is separated may confer it, as he that is separated may have
it; but as he has it to destruction, so he may confer it to destruction. But
he on whom he confers it may receive it to his soul's health, if he, on his
part, receive it not in separation; as it has happened to many that, in a catholic
spirit, and with heart not alienated from the unity of peace, they have, under
some pressure of impending death, turned hastily to some heretic and received
from him the baptism of Christ without any share in his perversity, so that,
whether dying or restored to life, they by no means remain in communion with those
to whom they never passed in heart. But if the recipient himself has received
the baptism in separation, he receives it so much the more to his destruction,
in proportion to the greatness of the good which he has not received well; and
it tends the more to his destruction in his separation, as it would avail the
more to the salvation of one in unity. And so, if, reforming himself from his
perverseness and turning from his separation, he should come to the Catholic
peace, his sins are remitted through the bond of peace and the same baptism under
which his sins were retained through the sacrilege of separation, because that
is always holy both in the just and the unjust, which is neither increased by
the righteousness nor diminished by the unrighteousness of any man.
8. This being the case, what bearing has it on so clear a truth, that many
of his fellow-bishops agreed with Cyprian in that opinion, and advanced their
own several opinions on the same side, except that his charity towards the
unity of Christ might become more and more conspicuous? For if he had been the only
one to hold that opinion, with no one to agree with him, he might have been
thought, in remaining, to have shrunk from the sin of schism, because he found no
companions in his error; but when so many agreed with him, he showed, by
remaining in unity with the rest who thought differently from him, that he preserved
the most sacred bond of universal catholicity, not from any fear of isolation,
but from the love of peace. Wherefore it might indeed seem now to be
superfluous to consider the several opinions of the other bishops also in that Council;
but since those who are slow in heart think that no answer has been made at
all, if to any passage in any discourse the answer which, might be brought to bear
on the spot be given not there but somewhere else, it is better that by
reading much they should be polished into sharpness, than that by understanding
little they should have room left for complaining that the argument has not been
fairly conducted.
CHAP. 6.--9. First, then, let us record for further consideration the case proposed
for decision by Cyprian himself, with which he initiates the proceedings of the
Council, and by which he shows a peaceful spirit, abounding in the fruitfulness
of Christian charity. "Ye have head," he says, "most beloved colleagues, what
Jubaianus, our fellow-bishop, has written to me, consulting my poor ability
about the unlawful and profane baptism of heretics, and what I have written back to
him, expressing to him the same opinion that I have expressed once and again
and often, that heretics coming to the Church ought to be baptized, and
sanctified with the baptism of the Church. Another letter also of Jubaianus has been
read to you, in which, agreeably to his sincere and religious devotion, in answer
to our epistle, he not only expressed his assent to it, but also gratefully
acknowledged that he had received instruction. It remains that we should
individually express our opinions on this same subject, judging no one, and removing no
one from the right of communion if he should entertain a different opinion.
For neither does any one of us set himself up as a bishop of bishops, or by
tyrannical terror force his colleagues to the necessity of obeying, since every
bishop, in the free use of his liberty and power, has the right of free judgment,
and can no more be judged by another than he can himself judge another. But we
are all awaiting the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ who alone has the power
Both of preferring us in the government of His Church, and of judging of our
actions."(1)
CHAP. 7.--10. I have already, I think, argued to the best of my power, in the
preceding books, in the interests of Catholic unanimity and counsel, in whose unity
these continued as pious members, in reply not only to the letter which Cyprian
wrote to Jubaianus, but also to that which he sent to Quintus, and that which, in
conjunction with certain of his colleagues, he sent to certain other
colleagues, and that which he sent to Pompeius. Wherefore it seems now to be fitting to
consider also what the others severally thought, and that with the liberty of
which he himself would not deprive us, as he says, "Judging no one, nor removing
any from the right of communion if he entertain different opinions." And that
he did not say this with the object of arriving at the hidden thoughts of his
colleagues, extracted as it were from their secret lurking-places, but because
he really loved peace and unity, is very easily to be seen from other passages
of the same sort, where he wrote to individuals as to Jubaianus himself. "These
things," he says, "we have written very shortly in answer to you, most beloved
brother, according to our poor ability, not preventing any one of the bishops
by our writing or judgment, from acting as he thinks right, having a free
exercise of his own judgment."(2) And that it might not seem that any one, because of
his entertaining different opinions in this same free exercise of his
judgment, should be driven from the society of his brethren, he goes on to say, "We, so
far as lies in us, do not strive on behalf of heretics against our colleagues
and fellow-bishops, with whom we maintain godly unity and the peace of our
Lord;"(2) and a little later he says, "Charity of spirit, respect for our
fraternity, the bond of faith, the harmony of the priesthood, are by us maintained with
patience and gentleness."(2) And so also in the epistle which he wrote to
Magnus, when he was asked whether there was any difference in the efficacy of
baptism by sprinkling "or by immersion, "In this matter," he says, "I am too modest
and diffident to prevent any one by my judgment from thinking as he deems right,
and acting as he thinks."(3) By which discourses he clearly shows that these
subjects were being handled by them at a time when they were not yet received as
decided beyond all question, but were being investigated with great care as
being yet unrevealed. We, therefore, maintaining on the subject of the identity
of all baptisms what must be acknowledged everywhere to be the custom(4) of the
universal Church, and what is confirmed by the decision of general Councils,(5)
and taking greater confidence also from the words of Cyprian, which allowed me
even then to hold opinions differing from his own without forfeiting the right
of communion, seeing that greater importance and praise were attached to
unity, such as the blessed Cyprian and his colleagues, with whom he held that
Council, maintained with those of different opinions, disturbing and overthrowing
thereby the seditious calumnies of heretics and schismatics in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who, speaking by His apostle, says, "Forbearing one another in
love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace;"(6) and
again, by the mouth of the same apostle, "If in anything ye be otherwise
minded, God shall reveal even this unto you,"(7)--we, I say, propose for
consideration and discussion the opinions of the holy bishops, without violating the bond
of unity and peace with them, in maintaining which we imitate them so far as we
can by the aid of the Lord Himself.
CHAP. VIII.--11. Caecilius of Bilta(1) said: "I know of one baptism in the one Church and
of none outside the Church. The one will be where there is true hope and sure
faith. For so it is written, 'One faith, One hope, one baptism.'(2) Not among
heretics, where there is no hope and a false faith; where all things are done by
a lie; where one possessed of a devil exorcises; the question of the sacrament
is asked by one from whose mouth and words proceeds a cancer; the faithless
gives faith; the guilty gives pardon for sins and Antichrist baptizes in the name
of Christ one accursed of God blesses; the dead promises life; the unpeaceful
gives peace; the blasphemer calls on God; the profane administers the
priesthood; the sacrilegious sets up the altar. To all this is added this further evil
that the servant of the devil dares to celebrate the eucharist. If this be not
so, let those who stand by them prove that all of it is false concerning
heretics. See the kind of things to which the Church is compelled to assent, being
forced to communicate without baptism or the remission of sins. This, brethren, we
ought to shun and avoid, separating ourselves from so great a sin, and holding
to the one baptism which is granted to the Church alone."(3)
12. To this I answer, that all who even within the Church profess that
they know God, but deny Him in their deeds, such as are the covetous and envious,
and those who, because they hate their brethren, are pronounced to be
murderers, not on my testimony, but on that of the holy Apostle John,(4) --all these are
both devoid of hope, because they have a bad conscience; and are faithless,
because they do not do what they have vowed to God; and liars, because they make
false professions; and possessed of devils, because they give place in their
heart to the devil and his angels; and their words work corruption, since they
corrupt good manners by evil communications; and they are infidels, because they
laugh at the threats which God utters against such men; and accursed, because
they live wickedly; and antichrists, because their lives are opposed to Christ;
and cursed of God, since holy Scripture everywhere calls down curses on such
men; and dead, because they are without the life of righteousness; and
unpeaceful, because by their contrary deeds they are at variance with God's behests; and
blasphemous, because by their abandoned acts despite is done to the name of
Christian; and profane, because they are spiritually shut out from that inner
sanctuary of God; and sacrilegious, because by their evil life they defile the
temple of God within themselves; and servants of the devil, because they do service
to fraud and covetousness, which is idolatry. That of such a kind are some,
nay very many, even within the Church, is testified both by Paul the apostle and
by Cyprian the bishop. Why, then, do they baptize? Why also are some, who
"renounce the world in words and not in deeds," baptized without being converted
from a life like this, and not rebaptized when they are converted? And as to what
he says with such indignation, "See the kind of things to which the Church is
compelled to assent, being forced to communicate without baptism or the
remission of sins," he could never have used such expressions had there not been the
other bishops who elsewhere forced men to such things. Whence also it is shown
that at that time those men held the truer views who did not depart from the
primitive custom, which is since confirmed by the consent of a general Council.(5)
But what does he mean by adding, "This, brethren, we ought to shun and avoid,
separating ourselves from so great a sin?" For if he means that he is not to do
nor to approve of this, that is another matter; but if he means to condemn and
sever from him those that hold the contrary opinion, he is setting himself
against the earlier words of Cyprian, "Judging no man, nor depriving any of the
right of communion if he differ from us."
CHAP. 9.--13. The elder Felix(6) of Migirpa said: "I think that every one coming from
heresy should be baptized. For in vain does any one suppose that he has been
baptized there, seeing that there is no baptism save the one true baptism in the
Church; for there is one Lord, and one faith, and one Church, in which rests
the one baptism, and holiness, and the rest. For the things that are practised
without have no power to work salvation."
14. To what Felix of Migirpa said we answer as follows. If the one true
baptism did not exist except in the Church, it surely would not exist in those
who depart from unity. But it does exist in them, since they do not receive it
when they return, simply because they had not lost it when they departed. But as
regards his statement, that "the things that are practised without have no
power to work salvation," I agree with him, and think that it is quite true; for it
is one thing that baptism should not be there, and another that it should have
no power to work salvation. For when men come to the peace of the Catholic
Church, then what was in them before they joined it, but did not profit them,
begins at once to profit them.
CHAP. 10.--15. To the declaration of Polycarp of Adrumetum,(1) that "those who declare
the baptism of heretics to be valid, make ours of none effect," we answer, if
that is the baptism of heretics which is given by heretics. then that is the
baptism of the covetous and murderers which is given by them within the Church.
But if this be not their baptism, neither is the other the baptism of heretics;
and so it is Christ's, by whomsoever it be given.
CHAP. 11.--16. Novatus of Thamugadis(2) said: "Though we know that all Scripture gives
its testimony respecting saving baptism, yet we ought to express our belief
that heretics and schismatics, coming to the Church with the semblance of having
been baptized, ought to be baptized in the unfailing fountain; and that
therefore, according to the testimony of the Scriptures, and according to the decree of
those most holy men, our colleagues,(3) all schismatics and heretics who are
converted to the Church ought to be baptized; and that, moreover, all that
seemed to have received ordination should be admitted as simple laymen."
17. Novatus of Thamugadis has stated what he has done, but he has brought
forward no proofs by which to show that he ought to have acted as he did. For
he has made mention of the testimony of the Scriptures, and the decree of his
colleagues, but he has not adduced out of them anything which we could consider.
CHAP. 12.--18. Nemesianus of Tubunae(4) said: "That the baptism which is given by
heretics and schismatics is not true is everywhere declared in the holy Scriptures,
inasmuch as their very prelates are false Christs and false prophets, as the
Lord declares by the mouth of Solomon, 'Whoso trusteth in lies, the same feedeth
the winds; he also followeth flying birds. For he deserteth the ways of his own
vineyard, and hath strayed from the paths of his own field. For he walketh
through pathless and dry places, and a land destined to thirst; and he gathereth
fruitless weeds in his hands.'(5) And again, 'Abstain from strange water, and
drink not of a strange fountain, that thou mayest live long, and that years may
be added to thy life.(6) And in the gospel our Lord Jesus Christ spake with His
own voice, saying, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God.'(7) This is the Spirit which from the beginning
'moved upon the face of the waters.'(8) For neither can the Spirit act without
the water, nor the water without the Spirit. III, therefore, for themselves do
some interpret, saying that by imposition of hands they receive the Holy Ghost,
and are received into the Church, when it is manifest that they ought to be
born again by both sacraments in the Catholic Church. For then indeed will they
be able to become the sons of God, as the apostle says, 'Endeavoring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God.'(9) All this the Catholic Church asserts. And again he says in
the gospel, 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit; for the Spirit is God, and is born of God.'(10) Therefore
all things whatsoever all heretics and schismatics do are carnal, as the
apostle says, 'Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these:
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, seditions, heresies, and such like: of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God.'(1) The apostle condemns, equally with all the
wicked, those also who cause divisions, that is, schismatics and heretics. Unless
therefore they receive that saving baptism which is one, and found only in the
Catholic Church, they cannot be saved, but will be condemned with the carnal in
the judgment of the Lord."
19. Nemesianus of Tubunae has advanced many passages of Scripture to prove
his point; but he has in fact said much on behalf of the view of the Catholic
Church, which we have undertaken to set forth and maintain. Unless, indeed, we
must suppose that he does not "trust in what is false" who trusts in the hope
of things temporal, as do all covetous men and robbers, and those "who renounce
the world in words but not in deeds," of whom Cyprian yet bears witness that
such men not only baptize, but even are baptized within the Church.(2) For they
themselves also "follow flying birds,"(3) since they do not attain to what they
desire. But not only the heretic, but everyone who leads an evil life
"deserteth the ways of his own vineyard, and hath strayed from the paths of his own
field. And he walketh through pathless and dry places, and a land destined to
thirst; and he gathereth fruitless weeds in his hands;" because all justice is
fruitful, and all iniquity is barren. Those, again, who "drink strange water out of
a strange fountain," are found not only among heretics, but among all who do
not live according to the teaching of God, and do live according to the teaching
of the devil. For if he were speaking of baptism, he would not say, "Do not
drink of a strange fountain," but, do not wash thyself in a strange fountain.
Again, I do not see at all what aid he gets towards proving his point from the
words of our Lord, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God."(4) For it is one thing to say that every one who
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven is first born again of water and the
Spirit, because except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven, which is the Lord's saying, and is true; another
thing to say that every one who is born of water and the Spirit shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven, which is assuredly false. For Simon Magus also was born
of water and of the Spirit,(5) and yet he did not enter into the kingdom of
heaven; and this may possibly be the case with heretics as well. Or if only those
are born of the Spirit who are changed with a true conversion, all "who
renounce the world in word and not in deed" are assuredly not born of the Spirit, but
of water only, and yet they are within the Church, according to the testimony
of Cyprian. For we must perforce grant one of two things,--either those who
renounce the world deceitfully are born of the Spirit, though it is to their
destruction, not to salvation, and therefore heretics may be so born; or if what is
written, that "the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit,"(6) extends to
proving as much as this, that those who renounce the world deceitfully are not
born of the Spirit, then a man may be baptized with water, and not born of the
Spirit, and Nemesianus says in vain that neither the Spirit can work without the
water, nor the water without the Spirit. Indeed it has been already often shown
how it is possible that men should have one baptism in common who have not one
Church, as it is possible that in the body of the Church herself those who are
sanctified by their righteousness, and those who are polluted through their
covetousness, may not have the same one Spirit, and yet have the same one
baptism. For it is said "one body," that is, the Church, just as it is said "one
Spirit" and "one baptism." The other arguments which he has adduced rather favor our
position. For he has brought forward a proof from the gospel, in the words,
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit; for the Spirit is God, and born of God;"(7) and he has advanced the
argument that therefore all things that are done by any heretic or schismatic
are carnal, as the apostle says, "The works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these: fornication, uncleanness;" and so he goes through the list which the
apostle there enumerates, amongst which he has reckoned heresies, since "they who
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."(8) Then he goes on to
add, that "therefore the apostle condemns with all wicked men those also who cause
division, that is, schismatics and heretics." And in this he does well, that
when he enumerates the works of the flesh, among which are also heresies, he
found and declared that the apostle condemns them all alike. Let him therefore
question the holy Cyprian himself, and learn from him how many even within the
Church live according to the evil works of the flesh, which the apostle condemns
in common with the heresies, and yet these both baptize and are baptized. Why
then are heretics alone said to be incapable of possessing baptism, which is
possessed by the very partners in their condemnation?
CHAP. 13.--20. Januarius of Lambaese(1) said: "Following the authority of the holy
Scriptures, I pronounce that all heretics should be baptized, and so admitted into
the holy Church."(2)
21. To him we answer, that, following the authority of the holy
Scriptures, a universal Council of the whole world decreed that the baptism of Christ was
not to be disavowed even when found among heretics. But if he had brought
forward any proof from the Scriptures, we should have shown either that they were
not against us, or even that they were for us, as we proceed to do with him who
follows.
CHAP. 14.--22. Lucius of Castra Galbae(3) said: "Since the Lord hath said in His
gospel, 'Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, that
which is salted from it shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out,
and to be trodden under foot of men;'(4) and seeing that again, after His
resurrection, when sending forth His apostles, He commanded them, saying, 'All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth: go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost,'(5)--since then it is plain that heretics, that is, the enemies of Christ,
have not the full confession of the sacrament, also that schismatics cannot
reason with spiritual wisdom, since they themselves, by withdrawing when they
have lost their savor from the Church, which is one, have become contrary to
it,(6) let that be done which is written, 'The houses of those that are opposed to
the law must needs be cleansed;'(7) and it therefore follows that those who have
been polluted by being baptized by men opposed to Christ should first be
cleansed, and only then baptized."(8)
23. Lucius of Castra Galbae has brought forward a proof from the gospel,
in the words of the Lord, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have
lost his savor, that which is salted from it shall be good for nothing, but to be
cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men;" just as though we maintained
that men when cast out were of any profit for the salvation either of themselves
or of any one else. But those also who, though seeming to be within, are yet
of such a kind, not only are without spiritually, but will in the end be
separated in the body also. For all such are for nothing. But it does not therefore
follow that the sacrament of baptism which is in them is nothing. For even in the
very men who are cast out, if they return to their senses and come back, the
salvation which had departed from them returns; but the baptism does not return,
because it never had departed. And in what the Lord says, "Go therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost," He did not permit any to baptize except the good, inasmuch
as He did not say to the bad, "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained."(9) How then do the
wicked baptize within, who cannot remit sins? How also is it that they baptize
the wicked whose hearts are not changed, whose sins are yet upon them, as John
says, "He that hateth his brother is in darkness even until now?"(10) But if
the sins of these men are remitted when they join themselves in the close bonds
of love to the good and just, through whom sins are remitted in the Church,
though they have been baptized by the wicked, so the sins of those also are
remitted who come from without and join themselves by the inner bond of peace to the
same framework of the body of Christ. Yet the baptism Of Christ should be
acknowledged in both, and held invalid in none, whether before they are converted,
though then it profit them nothing, or after they are converted, that so it may
profit them, as he says, "Since they themselves, by withdrawing when they have
lost their savor from the Church, which is one, have become contrary to it, let
that be done which is written, 'The houses of those that are opposed to the
law must need be cleansed.' And it therefore follows," he goes on to say, "that
those who have been polluted by being baptized by men opposed to Christ should
first be cleansed, and only then baptized." What then? Are thieves and murderers
not contrary to the law, which says, "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not
steal?"(1) "They must therefore needs be cleansed." Who will deny it? And yet not
only those who are baptized by such within the Church, but also those who, being
such themselves, are baptized without being changed in heart, are nevertheless
exempt from further baptism when they are so changed. So great is the force of
the sacrament of mere baptism, that though we allow that a man who has been
baptized and continues to lead an evil life requires to be cleansed, we yet
forbid him to be any more baptized.
CHAP. 15.--24. Crescens of Cirta(2) said: "The letters of our most beloved Cyprian to
Jubaianus, and also to Stephen?(3) having been read in so large an assembly of
our most holy brethren in the priesthood, containing as they do so large a body
of sacred testimony derived from the Scriptures that give us our God,(4) that
we have every reason to assent to them, being all united by the grace of God, I
give my judgment that all heretics or schismatics who wish to come to the
Catholic Church should not enter therein unless they have been first exorcised and
baptized; with the obvious exception of those who have been originally baptized
in the Catholic Church, these being reconciled and admitted to the penance of
the Church by the imposition of hands."(5)
25 Here we are warned once more to inquire why he says, "Except, of
course, those who have been originally baptized in the Catholic Church." Is it
because they had not lost what they had before received? Why then could they not also
transmit outside the Church what they were able to possess outside? Is it that
outside it is unlawfully transmitted? But neither is it lawfully possessed
outside, and yet it is possessed; so it is unlawfully given outside, but yet it is
given. But what is given to the person returning from heresy who had been
baptized inside, is given to the person coming to the Church who had been baptized
outside,--that is, that he may have lawfully inside what before he had
unlawfully outside. But perhaps some one may ask what was said on this point in the
letter of the blessed Cyprian to Stephen, which is mentioned in this judgment,
though not in the opening address to the Council,--I suppose because it was not
considered necessary. For Crescens stated that the letter itself had been read in
the assembly, which I have no doubt was done, if I am not mistaken, as is
customary, in order that the bishops, being already assembled, might receive some
information at the same time on the subject contained in that letter. For it
certainly has no bearing on the present subject; and I am more surprised at
Crescens having thought fit to mention it at all, than at its having been passed over
in the opening address. But if any one thinks that I have shrunk from bringing
forward something which has been urged in it that is essential to the present
point, let him read it and see that what I say is true; or if he finds it
otherwise, let him convict me of falsehood. For that letter Contains nothing
whatsoever about baptism administered among heretics or schismatics, which is the
subject of our present argument.(6)
CHAP. 16.--26. Nicomedes of Segermi(7) said: "My judgment is that heretics coming to
the Church should be baptized, because they can obtain no remission of sins among
sinners outside."(8)
27. The answer to which is: The judgment of the whole Catholic Church is
that heretics, being already baptized with the baptism of Christ, although in
heresy, should not be re-baptized on coming to the Church. For if there is no
remission of sins among sinners, neither can sinners within the Church remit sins;
and yet those who have been baptized by them are not rebaptized.
CHAP. 17.--28. Monnulus of Girba(9) said: "The truth of our mother, the Catholic
Church, hath continued, and still continues among us, brethren, especially in the
threefold nature(10) of baptism, as our Lord says, 'Go, baptize all nations in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.'(11) Since,
therefore," he goes on to say, "we know clearly that heretics have neither Father,
Son, nor Holy Ghost, they ought, on coming to our mother, the Church, to be truly
regenerated and baptized, that the cancer which they had, and the wrath of
condemnation, and the destructive energy of error(1) may be sanctified by the holy
and heavenly layer."(2)
29. To this we answer, That all who are baptized with the baptism that is
consecrated in the words of the gospel have the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Ghost in the sacrament alone; but that in heart and in life neither do those
have them who live an abandoned and accursed life within.
CHAP. 18.--30. Secundinus of Cedias(3) said: "Since our Lord Christ said, 'He that is
not with me is against me,'(4) and the Apostle John declares those who go out
from the Church to be antichrists,(5) without all doubt the enemies of Christ,
and those who are called antichrists, cannot minister the grace of the baptism
which gives salvation; and therefore my judgment is that those who take refuge in
the Church from the snares of heresy should be baptized by us, who of His
condescension are called the friends of God."(6)
31. The answer to which is, That all are the opponents of Christ, to whom,
on their saying, "Lord, have we not in Thy name done many wonderful things?"
with all the rest that is there recorded, He shall at the last day answer, "I
never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity,"(7)--all which kind of
chaff is destined for the fire, if it persevere to the last in its wickedness,
whether any part of it fly outside before its winnowing, or whether it seem to be
within. If, therefore, those heretics who come to the Church are to be again
baptized, that they may be baptized by the friends of God, are those covetous
men, those robbers, murderers, the friends of God, or must those whom they have
baptized be baptized afresh?
CHAP. 19.--32. Felix of Bagai(8) said: "As when the blind leads the blind, both fall
into the ditch,(9) so when a heretic baptizes a heretic, both fall together into
death."
33. This is true, but it does not follow that what he adds is true. "And
therefore," he says, "the heretic must be baptized and brought to life, lest we
who are alive should hold communion with the dead."(10) Were they not dead who
said, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die?"(11) for they did not
believe in the resurrection of the dead. Those then who were corrupted by their evil
communications, and followed them, were not they likewise falling with them
into the pit? And yet among them there were men to whom the apostle was writing as
being already baptized; nor would they, therefore, if they were corrected, be
baptized afresh. Does not the same apostle say, "To be carnally-minded is
death?"(12) and certainly the covetous, the deceivers, the robbers, in the midst of
whom Cyprian himself was groaning, were carnally-minded. What then? Did the
dead hurt him who was living in unity? Or who would say, that because such men had
or gave the baptism of Christ, that it was therefore violated by their
iniquities?
CHAP. 20.--34. Polianus of Mileum(13) said: "It is right that a heretic should be
baptized in the holy Church."(14)
35. Nothing, indeed, could be expressed more shortly. But I think this too
is short: It is right that the baptism of Christ should not be depreciated in
the Church of Christ.
CHAP. 21.--36. Theogenes of Hippo Regius(15) said: "According to the sacrament of the
heavenly grace of God which we have received, we believe in the one only baptism
which is in the holy Church."(16)
37. This may be my own judgment also. For it is so balanced, that it
contains nothing contrary to the truth. For we also believe in the one only baptism
which is in the holy Church. Had he said, indeed, We believe in that which is
in the holy Church alone, the same answer must have been made to him as to the
rest. But as it is, since he has expressed himself in this wise, "We believe in
the one only baptism which is in the holy Church," so that it is asserted that
it exists in the holy Church, but not denied that it may be elsewhere as well,
whatever his meaning may have been, there is no need to argue against these
words. For if I were questioned on the several points, first, whether there was
one baptism, I should answer that there was one. Then if I were asked, whether
this was in the holy Church, I should answer that it was. In the third place, if
it were asked whether I believed in this baptism, I should answer that I did so
believe; and consequently I should answer that I believed in the one baptism
which is in the holy Church. But if it were asked whether it was found in the
holy Church alone, and not among heretics and schismatics, I should answer that,
in common with the whole Church, I believed the contrary. But since he did not
insert this in his judgment, I should consider that it was mere wantonness if I
added words which I did not find there, for the sake of arguing against them.
For if he were to say, There is one water of the river Euphrates, which is in
Paradise, no one could gainsay the truth of what he said. But if he were asked
whether that water were in Paradise and nowhere else, and were to say that this
was so, he would be saying what was false. For, besides Paradise, it is also in
those lands into which it flows from that source. But who is rash enough to
say that he would have been likely to assert what is false, when it is quite
possible that he was asserting what is true? Wherefore the words of this judgment
require no contradiction, because they in no wise run counter to the truth.
CHAP. 22.--38. Dativus of Badiae(1) said "We, so far as lies within our power, refuse
to communicate with a heretic, unless he has been baptized in the Church, and
received remission of his sins."(2)
39. The answer to this is: If your reason for wishing him to be baptized
is that he has not received remission of sins, supposing you find a man within
the Church who has been baptized, though entertaining hatred towards his
brother, since the Lord cannot lie, who says, "If ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,"(3) will you bid such an
one, when corrected, to be baptized afresh? Assuredly not; so neither should you
bid the heretic. It is clear that we must not pass unnoticed why he did not
briefly say, "We do not communicate with a heretic," but added, "so far as lies
within our power." For he saw that a greater number agreed with this view, from
whose communion, however, he and his friends could not separate themselves, lest
unity should be impaired, and so he added, "so far as lies within our
power,"--showing beyond all doubt that he did not willingly communicate with those whom
he held to be without baptism, but that yet all things were to be endured for
the sake of peace and unity; just as was done also by those who thought that
Dativus and his party were in the wrong, and who held what afterwards was taught
by a fuller declaration of the truth, and urged by ancient custom, which
received the stronger confirmation of a later Council; yet in turn, with anxious
piety, they showed toleration towards each other, though without violation of
Christian charity they entertained different opinions, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace,(4) till God should reveal to one of them,
were he otherwise minded, even this error of his ways.(5) And to this I would
have those give heed, by whom unity is attacked on the authority of this very
Council by which it is declared how much unity should be loved.
CHAP. 23.--40. Successus of Abbir Germaniciana(6) said: "Heretics may either do nothing
or everything. If they can baptize, they can also give the Holy Spirit; but if
they cannot give the Holy Spirit, because they do not possess the Holy Spirit,
then can they not either spiritually baptize. Therefore we give our judgment
that heretics should be baptized."(7)
41. To this we may answer almost word for word: Murderers may either do
nothing or everything. If they can baptize, they can also give the Holy Spirit;
but if they cannot give the Holy Spirit, because they do not possess the Holy
Spirit, then can they not either spiritually baptize. Therefore we give our
judgment that persons baptized by murderers, or murderers themselves who have been
baptized without being converted, should, when they have corrected themselves,
be baptized. Yet this is not true. For "whosoever hateth his brother is a
murderer;"(8) and Cyprian knew such men within the Church, who certainly baptized.
Therefore it is to no purpose that words of this sort are used concerning
heretics.
CHAP. 24.--42. Fortunatus of Thuccabori(9) said: "Jesus Christ our Lord and God, the
Son of God the Father and Creator, built His Church upon a rock, not upon heresy,
and gave the power of baptizing to bishops, not to heretics. Wherefore those
who are outside the Church, and stand against Christ, scattering His sheep and
flock, cannot baptize outside."(1)
43. He added the word "outside" in order that he might not be answered
with a like brevity to Successus. For otherwise he might also have been answered
word for word: Jesus Christ our Lord and God, the Son of God the Father and
Creator, built His Church upon a rock, not upon iniquity, and gave the power of
baptizing to bishops, not to the unrighteous. Wherefore those who do not belong to
the rock on which they build, who hear the word of God and do it,(2) but,
living contrary to Christ in hearing the word and not doing it, and hereby building
on the sand, in this way scatter His sheep and flock by the example of an
abandoned character, cannot baptize. Might not this be said with all the semblance
of truth? and yet it is false. For the unrighteous do baptize, since those
robbers are unrighteous whom Cyprian maintained to be at unity with himself.(3) But
for this reason, says the Donatist, he adds "outside." Why therefore can they
not baptize outside? Is it because they are worse from the very fact that they
are outside? But it makes no difference, in respect of the Validity of baptism,
how much worse the minister may be. For there is not so much difference
between bad and worse as between good and bad; and yet, when the bad baptizes, he
gives the selfsame sacrament as the good. Therefore, also, when the worse
baptizes, he gives the selfsame sacrament as the less bad. Or is it that it is not in
respect of man's merit, but of the sacrament of baptism itself, that it cannot
be given outside? If this were so, neither could it be possessed outside, and it
would be necessary that a man should be baptized again so often as he left the
Church and again returned to it.
44. Further, if we inquire more carefully what is meant by "outside,"
especially as he himself makes mention of the rock on which the Church is built,
are not they in the Church who are on the rock, and they who are not on the rock,
not in the Church either Now, therefore, let us see whether they build their
house upon a rock who hear the words of Christ and do them not. The Lord Himself
declares the contrary, saying, "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock;" and a little later, "Every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the
sand."(4) If, therefore, the Church is on a rock, those who are on the sand,
because they are outside the rock, are necessarily outside the Church. Let us
recollect, therefore, how many Cyprian mentions as placed within who build upon the
sand, that is, who hear the words of Christ and do them not. And therefore,
because they are on the sand, they are proved to be outside the rock, that is,
outside the Church; yet even while they are so situated, and are either not yet
or never changed for the better, not only do they baptize and are baptized, but
the baptism which they have remains valid in them though they are destined to
damnation.
45. Neither can it be said in this place,(5) Yet who is there that doeth
all the words of the Lord which are written in the evangelic sermon itself,(5)
at the end of which He says, that he who heard the said words and did them built
upon a rock, and he who heard them and did them not built upon the sand? For,
granting that by certain persons all the words are not accomplished, yet in the
same sermon He has appointed the remedy, saying, "Forgive, and ye shall be
forgiven."(6) And after the Lord's prayer had been recorded in detail in the same
sermon, He says, "For I say unto you, if ye forgive men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."(7) Hence also Peter
says, "For charity shall cover the multitude of sins;"(8) which charity they
certainly did not have, and on this account they built upon the sand, of whom the
same Cyprian says, that within the Church they held conversation, even in the time
of the apostles, in unkindly hatred alien from Christian charity;(9) and
therefore they seemed indeed to be within, but really were without, because they
were not on that rock by which the Church is signified.
CHAP. 25.--46. Sedatus of Tuburbo(10) said: "Inasmuch as water, sanctified by the
prayer of the priest in the Church, washes away sins, just so much does it multiply
sins when infected, as by a cancer, with the words of heretics. Wherefore one
must strive, with all such efforts as conduce to peace, that no one who has been
infected and tainted by heretical error should refuse to receive the one true
baptism, with which whosoever is not baptized shall not inherit the kingdom of
heaven."(1)
47. To this we answer, that if the water is not sanctified, when through
want of skill the priest who prays utters some words of error, many, not only of
the bad, but of the good brethren in the Church itself, fail to sanctify the
water. For the prayers of many are corrected every day on being recited to men
of greater learning, and many things are found in them contrary to the Catholic
faith. Supposing, then, that it were shown that some persons were baptized when
these prayers had been uttered over the water, will they be bidden to be
baptized afresh? Why not? Because generally the fault in the prayer is more than
counterbalanced by the intent of him who offers it; and those fixed words of the
gospel, without which baptism cannot be consecrated, are of such efficacy, that,
by their virtue, anything faulty that is uttered in the prayer contrary to the
rule of faith is made of no effect, just as the devil is excluded by the name
of Christ. For it is clear that if a heretic utters a faulty prayer, he has no
good intent of love whereby that want of skill may be compensated, and
therefore he is like any envious or spiteful person in the Catholic Church itself, such
as Cyprian proves to exist within the Church. Or one might offer some prayer,
as not unfrequently happens, in which he should speak against the rule of
faith, since many rush into the use of prayers which are composed not only by
unskillful men who love to talk, but even by heretics, and in the simplicity of
ignorance, not being able to discern their true character, use them, thinking they
are good; and yet what is erroneous in them does not vitiate what is right, but
rather it is rendered null thereby, just as in the man of good hope and
approved faith, who yet is but a man, if in anything he be otherwise minded, what he
holds aright is not thereby vitiated until God reveal to him also that in which
he is otherwise minded.(2) But supposing that the man himself is wicked and
perverse, then, if he should offer an upright prayer, in no part contrary to the
Catholic faith, it does not follow that because the prayer is right the man
himself is also right; and if over some he offer an erroneous prayer, God is
present to uphold the words of His gospel, without which the baptism of Christ cannot
be consecrated, and He Himself consecrates His sacrament, that in the
recipient, either before he is baptized, or when he is baptized, or at some future time
when he turns in truth to God, that very sacrament may be profitable to
salvation, which, were he not to be converted, would be powerful to his destruction.
But who is there who does not know that there is no baptism of Christ, if the
words of the gospel in which consists the outward visible sign be not
forthcoming? But you will more easily find heretics who do not baptize at all, than any
who baptize without those words. And therefore we say, not that every baptism
(for in many of the blasphemous rites of idols men are said to be baptized), but
that the baptism of Christ, that is, every baptism consecrated in the words of
the gospel, is everywhere the same, and cannot be vitiated by any perversity on
the part of any men.(3)
48. We must certainly not lightly pass over in this judgment that he here
inserted a clause, and says, "Wherefore we must strive, with all such efforts
as conduce to peace, that no one who has been infected," etc. For he had regard
to those words of the blessed Cyprian in his opening speech, "Judging no man,
nor depriving any of the right of communion if he entertain a different view."
See of what power is the love of unity and peace in the good sons of the Church,
that they should choose rather to show tolerance towards those whom they
called sacrilegious and profane, being admitted, as they thought, without the
sacrament of baptism, if they could not correct them as they thought was right, than
on their account to break that holy bond, lest on account of the tares the
wheat also should be rooted out,(4)--permitting, so far as rested with them, as in
that noblest judgment of Solomon, that the infant body should rather be
nourished by the false mother than be cut in pieces.(5) But this was the opinion both
of those who held the truer view about the sacrament of baptism, and of those
to whom God, in consideration of their great love, was purposing to reveal any
point in which they were otherwise minded.
CHAP. 26.--49 Privatianus of Sufetula(6) said: "He who says that heretics have the
power of baptizing should first say who it was that rounded heresy. For if heresy
is of God, it may have the divine favor; but if it be not of God, how can it
either have or confer on any one the grace of God?"(7)
50. This man may thus be answered word for word: He who says that
malicious and envious persons have the power of baptizing, should first say who was the
founder of malice and envy. For if malice and envy are of God, they may have
the divine favor; but if they are not of God, how can they either have or confer
on any one the grace of God? But as these words are in the same way most
manifestly false, so are also those which these were uttered to confute. For the
malicious and envious baptize, as even Cyprian himself allows, because he bears
testimony that they also are within. So therefore even heretics may baptize,
because baptism is the sacrament of Christ; but envy and heresy are the works of
the devil. Yet though a man possesses them, he does not thereby cause that if he
have the sacrament of Christ, it also should itself be reckoned in the number
of the devil's works.
CHAP. 27.--51. Privatus of Sufes(1) said: "What can be said of the man who approves the
baptism of heretics, save that he communicates with heretics?"(2)
52. To this we answer: It is not the baptism of heretics which we approve
in heretics, as it is not the baptism of the covetous, or the treacherous, or
deceitful, or of robbers, or of envious men which we approve in them for all of
these are unjust, but Christ is just, whose sacrament existing in them, they do
not in its essence violate. Otherwise another man might say: What can be said
of the man who approves the baptism of the unjust, save that he communicates
with the unjust. And if this objection were brought against the Catholic Church
herself, it would be answered just as I have answered the above.
CHAP. 28.--53. Hortensianus of Lares(3) said: "How many baptisms there are, let those
who uphold or favor heretics determine. We assert one baptism of the Church,
which we only know in the Church. Or how can those baptize any one in the name of
Christ whom Christ Himself declares to be His enemies?"(4)
54. Giving answer to this man in a like tenor of words, we say: Let those
who uphold or favor the unrighteous see to it: we recall to the Church when we
can the one baptism which we know to be of the Church alone, wherever it be
found. Or how can they baptize any one in the name of Christ whom Christ Himself
declares to be His enemies? For He says to all the unrighteous, "I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity;"(5) and yet, when they baptize, it is
not themselves that baptize, but He of whom John says, "The same is He which
baptizeth."(6)
CHAP. 29.--55. Cassius of Macomades(7) said: "Since there cannot be two baptisms, he
who grants baptism unto heretics takes it away from himself. I therefore declare
my judgment that heretics, those objects for our tears, those masses of
corruption,(8) should be baptized when they begin to come to the Church, and that so
being washed by the sacred and divine laver, and enlightened with the light of
life, they may be received into the Church,--as being now made not enemies, but
peaceful; not strangers, but of the household of the faith of the Lord; not
bastards,(9) but sons of God; partaking not of error, but of salvation,--with the
exception of those who, being believers transplanted from the Church, had gone
over to heresy, and that these should be restored by the laying on of
hands."(10)
56. Another might say: Since there cannot be two baptisms, he who grants
baptism to the unrighteous takes it away from himself. But even our opponents
would join us in resisting such a man when he says that we grant baptism to the
unrighteous, which is not of the unrighteous, like their unrighteousness, but of
Christ, of whom is righteousness, and whose sacrament, even among the
unrighteous, is not unrighteous. What, therefore, they would join us in saying of the
unrighteous, that let them say to themselves of heretics. And therefore he
should rather have said as follows: I therefore give my judgment that heretics,
those objects for our tears, those masses of corruption, should not be baptized
when they begin to come to the Church, if they already have the baptism of Christ,
but should be corrected from their error. For we may similarly say of the
unrighteous, of whom the heretics are a part: I therefore give my judgment that the
unrighteous, those objects for our tears, and masses of corruption, if they
have been already baptized, should not be baptized again when they begin to come
to the Church, that is, to that rock outside which are all who hear the words
of Christ and do them not; but being already washed with the sacred and divine
laver, and now further enlightened with the light of truth, should be received
into the Church no longer as enemies but as peaceful, for the unrighteous have
no peace; no longer as strangers, but of the household of the faith of the Lord,
for to the unrighteous it is said, "How then art thou turned into the
degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?"(1) no longer as bastards, but the sons of
God, for the unrighteous are the sons of the devil, partaking not of error but
of salvation, for un-righteousness cannot save. And by the Church I mean that
rock, that dove, that garden enclosed and fountain sealed, which is recognized
only in the wheat, not in the chaff, whether that be scattered far apart by the
wind, or appear to be mingled with the corn even till the last winnowing. In
vain, therefore, did Cassius add, "With the exception of those who, being
believers transplanted from the Church, had gone over to heresy.' For if even they
themselves had lost baptism by seceding, to themselves also let t be restored; but
if they had not lost it, let what was given by them receive due recognition.
CHAP. 30.--57. Another Januarius of Vicus Caesaris(2) said: "If error does not obey
truth, much more does truth refuse assent to error; and therefore we stand by the
Church in which we preside, so that, claiming her baptism for herself alone, we
baptize those whom the Church has not baptized."(3)
58. We answer: Whom the Church baptizes, those that rock baptizes outside
which are all they who hear the words of Christ and do them not. Let all,
therefore, be baptized again who have been baptized by such. But if this is not
done, then, as we recognize the baptism of Christ in these, so should we recognize
it in heretics, though we either condemn or correct their unrighteousness and
error.
CHAP. 31.--59. Another Secundinus of Carpis(4) said: "Are heretics Christians or not?
If they are Christians, why are they not in the Church of God? If they are not
Christians, let them be made so.(5) Else what will be the reference in the
discourse of the Lord, in which He says, 'He that is not with me is against me; and
he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad?'(6) Whence it is clear that on
strange children and the offspring of Antichrist the Holy Spirit cannot
descend by the laying on of hands alone, since it is clear that heretics have not
baptism."(7)
60. To this we answer: Are the unrighteous Christians or not? If they are
Christians, why are they not on that rock on which the Church is built? for
they hear the words of Christ and do them not. If they are not Christians, let
them be made so. Else what will be the reference in the discourse of our Lord, in
which He says, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not
with me scattereth abroad?" For they scatter His sheep who lead them to the
ruin of their lives by a false imitation of the Lord. Whence it is clear that
upon strange children (as all the unrighteous are called), and upon the offspring
of Antichrist (which all are who oppose themselves to Christ), the Holy Spirit
cannot descend by the laying on of hands alone, if there be not added a true
conversion of the heart; since it is clear that the unrighteous, so long as they
are unrighteous, may indeed have baptism, but cannot have the salvation of
which baptism is the sacrament. For let us see whether heretics are described in
that psalm where the following words are used of strange children: "Deliver me, O
Lord, from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and
their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: whose sons are like young shoots
well established, and their daughters polished after the similitude of the temple.
Their garners are full, affording all manner of store; their sheep are
fruitful, bringing forth plenteously in their streets; their oxen are strong: there is
no breaking down of their fence, no opening of a passage out, no complaining
in their streets. Men deemed happy the people that is in such a case; rather
blessed is the people whose God is the Lord."(8) If, therefore, those are strange
children who place their happiness in temporal things, and in the abundance of
earthly prosperity, and depsise the commandments of the Lord, let us see
whether these are not the very same of whom Cyprian so speaks, transforming them also
into himself, that he may show that he is speaking of men with whom he held
communion in the sacraments: "In not keeping," he says, "the way of the Lord, nor
observing the heavenly commandments given us for our salvation. Our Lord did
the will of His Father, and we do not do the will of the Lord, being eager about
our patrimony or our gains, following after pride, and so forth."(1) But if
these could both have and transmit baptism, why is it denied that it may exist
among strange children, whom he yet exhorts, that, by keeping the heavenly
commandments conveyed to them through the only-begotten Son, they should deserve to
be His brethren and the sons of God?
CHAP. 32.--61. Victoricus of Thabraca(2) said: "If heretics may baptize, and give
remission of sins, why do we destroy their credit, and call them heretics?"(3)
62. What if another were to say: If the unrighteous may baptize, and give
remission of sins, why do we destroy their credit, and call them unrighteous?
The answer which we should give to such an one concerning the unrighteous may
also be given to the other concerning heretics,--that is, in the first place,
that the baptism with which they baptize is not theirs; and secondly, that it does
not follow that whosoever has the baptism of Christ is also certain of the
remission of his sins if he has this only in the outward sign, and is not
converted with a true conversion of the heart, so that he who gives remission should
himself have remission of his sins.
CHAP. 33.--63. Another Felix of Uthina(4) said: "No one can doubt, most holy brethren
in the priesthood, that human presumption has not so much power as the adorable
and venerable majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remembering then the danger, we
ought not only to observe this ourselves, but to confirm it by our general
consent, that all heretics who come to the bosom of our mother the Church be
baptized, that the heretical mind, which has been polluted by long-continued
corruption, may be reformed when cleansed by the sanctification of the layer."(5)
64. Perhaps the man who has placed the strength of his case for the
baptizing of heretics in the cleansing away of the long-continued corruption, would
spare those who, having fallen headlong into some heresy, had remained in it a
brief space, and presently being corrected, had passed from thence to the
Catholic Church. Furthermore, he has himself failed to observe that it might be said
that all unrighteous persons who come to that rock, in which is understood the
Church, should be baptized, so that the unrighteous mind, which was building
outside the rock upon the sand by hearing the words of Christ and not doing them,
might be reformed when cleansed by the sanctification of the layer; and yet
this is not done if they have been baptized already, even if it be proved that
such was their character when they were baptized, that is, that they "renounced
the world in words and not in deeds."
CHAP. 34.--65. Quietus of Burug(6) said: "We who live by faith ought with believing
observance to obey what has been before foretold for our instruction. For it is
written in Solomon, 'He that is washed by one dead, what availeth his
washing?'(7) Which assuredly he says of those who are washed by heretics, and of those who
wash. For if they who are baptized among them receive eternal life through the
remission of their sins, why do they come to the Church? But if no salvation
is received from a dead person, and they therefore, acknowledging their former
error, return with penance to the truth, they ought to be sanctified with the
one life-giving baptism which is in the Catholic Church."(8)
66. What it is to be baptized by the dead, we have already, without
prejudice to the more careful consideration of the same scripture, sufficiently
declared before.(9) But I would ask why it is that they wish heretics alone to be
considered dead, when Paul the apostle has said generally of sin, "The wages of
sin is death;"(10) and again, "To be carnally minded is death."(11) And when he
says that a widow that liveth in pleasure is dead,(12) how are they not dead
"who renounce the world in words and not in deeds"? What, therefore, is the
profit of washing in him who is baptized by them, except, indeed, that if he himself
also is of the same character, he has the layer indeed, but it does not profit
him to salvation? But if he by whom he is baptized is such, but the man who is
baptized is turned to the Lord with no false heart, he is not baptized by that
dead person, but by that living One of whom it is said, "The same is He which
baptizeth."(1) But to what he says of heretics, that if they who are baptized
among them receive eternal life through the remission of their sins, why do they
come to the Church? we answer: They come for this reason, that although they
have received the baptism of Christ up to the point of the celebration of the
sacrament, yet they cannot attain to life eternal save through the charity of
unity; just as neither would those envious and malicious ones attain to life
eternal, who would not have their sins forgiven them, even if they entertained
hatred only against those from whom they suffered wrong; since the Truth said, "If
ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses,"(2) how much less when they were hating those towards whom they were
rewarding evil for good?(3) And yet these men, though "renouncing the world in
words and not in deeds," would not be baptized again, if they should afterwards be
corrected, but they would be made holy by the one living baptism. And this is
indeed in the Catholic Church, but not in it alone, as neither is it in the
saints alone who are built upon the rock, and of whom that one dove is composed.(4)
CHAP. 35.--67. Castus of Sicca(5) said: He who presumes to follow custom in despite of
truth is either envious and evilly disposed towards the brethren to whom the
truth is revealed, or else he is ungrateful towards God, by whose inspiration His
Church is instructed."(6)
68. If this man proved that those who differed from him, and held the view
that has since been held by the whole world under the sanction of a Christian
Council, were following custom so as to despise truth, we should have reason
for fearing these words; but seeing that this custom is found both to have had
its origin in truth and to have been confirmed by truth, we have nothing to fear
in this judgment. And yet, if they were envious or evilly disposed towards the
brethren, or ungrateful towards God, see with what kind of men they were
willing to hold communion; see what kind of men, holding different opinions from
their own, they treated as Cyprian enjoined them at the first, not removing them
from the right of communion; see by what kind of men they were not polluted in
the preservation of unity; see how greatly the bond of peace was to be loved; see
what views they hold who bring charges against us, founded on the Council of
bishops, their predecessors, whose example they do not imitate, and by whose
example, when the rights of the case are considered, they are condemned. If it was
the custom, as this judgment bears witness, that heretics coming to the Church
should be received with the baptism which they already had, either this was
done rightly, or the evil do not pollute the good in unity. If it was rightly
done, why do they accuse the world because they are so received? But if the evil
do not pollute the good in unity, how do they defend themselves against the
charge of sacrilegious separation?
CHAP. 36.--69. Eucratius of Theni(7) said: "Our God and Lord Jesus Christ, teaching the
apostles with His own mouth, fully laid down our faith, and the grace of
baptism, and the rule of the law of the Church, saying, 'Go ye, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.'(8) Therefore the false and unrighteous baptism of heretics is to be
repudiated by us, and contradicted with all solemnity of witness, seeing that from
their mouth issues not life, but poison, not heavenly grace, but blaspheming of
the Trinity. And so it is plain that heretics coming to the Church ought to be
baptized with perfect and Catholic baptism, that, being purified from the
blasphemy of their presumption, they may be reformed by the grace of the Holy
Spirit."(9)
70. Clearly, if the baptism is not consecrated in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, it should be considered to be of the
heretics, and repudiated as unrighteous by us with all solemnity of witness; but
if we discern this name in it, we do better to distinguish the words of the
gospel from heretical error, and approve what is sound in them, correcting what is
faulty.
CHAP. 37.--71. Libosus of Vaga(10) said: "The Lord says in the gospel, 'I am the
truth;'11 He did not say, I am custom. Therefore, when the truth is made manifest,
let custom yield to truth; so that, if even in time past any one did not baptize
heretics in the X Church, he may now begin to baptize them."(1)
72. Here he has in no way tried to show how that is the truth to which he
says that custom ought to yield. But it is of more importance that he helps us
against those who have separated themselves from unity, by confessing that the
custom existed, than that he thinks it ought to yield to a truth which he does
not show. For the custom is of such a nature, that if it admitted sacrilegious
men to the altar of Christ without the cleansing of baptism, and polluted none
of the good men who remained in unity, then all who have cut themselves off
from the same unity, in which they could not be polluted by the contagion of any
evil persons whatsoever, have separated themselves without reason, and have
committed the manifest sacrilege of schism. But if all perished in pollution
through that custom, from what cavern do they issue without the original truth, and
with all the cunning of calumny? If, however, the custom was a fight one by
which heretics were thus received, let them abandon their madness, let them confess
their error; let them come to the Catholic Church, not that they may be bathed
again with the sacrament of baptism, but that they may be cured from the wound
of severance.
CHAP. 38.--73. Lucius of Thebaste(2) said: "I declare my judgment that heretics, and
blasphemers, and unrighteous men, who with various words pluck away the sacred
and adorable words of the Scriptures, should be held accursed, and therefore
exorcised and baptized."(3)
74. I too think that they should be held accursed, but not that therefore
they should be exorcised and baptized; for it is their own falsehood which I
hold accursed, but Christ's sacrament which I venerate.
CHAP. 39.--75. Eugenius of Ammedera(4) said: "I too pronounce this same judgment, that
heretics should be baptized."(5)
76. To him we answer: But this is not the judgment which the Church
pronounces, to which also God has now revealed in a plenary Council the point in
which ye were then still otherwise minded,(6) but because saving charity was in
you, ye remained in unity.
CHAP 40.--77. Also another Felix of Ammacura(7) said: "I too, following the authority
of the holy Scriptures, give my judgment that heretics should be baptized, and
with them those also who maintain that they have been baptized among
schismatics. For if, according to the warning of Christ, our fountain is sealed to
ourselves,(8) let all the enemies of our Church understand that it cannot belong to
others; nor can He who is the Shepherd of our flock give the water unto
salvation to two different peoples. And therefore it is clear that neither heretics nor
schismatics can receive anything heavenly, who dare to accept from men that
are sinners and aliens from the Church. When the giver has no ground to stand
upon, surely neither can the receiver derive any profit."(9)
78. To him we answer, that the holy Scriptures nowhere have enjoined that
heretics baptized among heretics should be baptized afresh, but that they have
shown in many places that all are aliens from the Church who are not on the
rock, nor belong to the members of the dove, and yet that they baptize and are
baptized and have the sacrament of salvation without salvation. But how our
fountain is like the fountain of Paradise, in that, like it, it flows forth even
beyond the bounds of Paradise, has been sufficiently set forth above;(10) and that
"He who is the Shepherd of our flock cannot give the water unto salvation to
two different peoples," that is, to one that is His own, and to another that is
alien, I fully agree in admitting. But does it follow that because the water is
not unto salvation it is not the identical water? For the water of the deluge
was for salvation unto those who were placed within the ark, but it brought
death to those without, and yet it was the same water. And many aliens, that is to
say, envious persons, whom Cyprian declares and proves from Scripture to be of
the party of the devil, seem as it were to be within, and yet, if they were not
without the ark, they would not perish by water. For such men are slain by
baptism, as the sweet savor of Christ was unto death to those of whom the apostle
speaks.(11) Why then do not either heretics or schismatics receive anything
heavenly, just as thorns or tares, like those who were without the ark received
indeed the rain from the floods of heaven, but to destruction, not to salvation?
And so I do not take the pains to refute what he said in conclusion: "When the
giver has no ground to stand upon, surely neither can the receiver derive any
profit," since we also say that it does not profit the receivers while they
receive it in heresy, consenting with the heretics; and therefore they come to
Catholic peace and unity, not that they may receive baptism, but that what they had
received may begin to profit them.
CHAP. 41.--79. Also another Januarius of Muzuli(1) said: "I wonder that, while all
acknowledge that there is one baptism, all do not understand the unity of the same
baptism. For the Church and heresy are two distinct things. If heretics have
baptism we have it not; but if we have it, heretics cannot have it. But there is
no doubt that the Church alone possesses the baptism of Christ, since it alone
possesses both the favor and the truth of Christ."(2)
80. Another might equally say, and say with equal want of truth: I wonder
that, while all confess there is one baptism, all do not understand the unity
of baptism. For righteousness and unrighteousness are two distinct things. If
the unrighteous have baptism, the righteous have it not; but if the righteous
have it, the unrighteous cannot have it. But there is no doubt that the righteous
alone possess the baptism of Christ, since they alone possess both the favor
and the truth of Christ. This is certainly false, as they confess themselves. For
those envious ones also who are of the party of the devil, though placed
within the Church, as Cyprian tells us, and who were well known to the Apostle Paul,
had baptism, but did not belong to the members of that dove which is safely
sheltered on the rock.
CHAP. 42.--81. Adelphius of Thasbalte(3) said: "It is surely without cause that they
find fault with the truth in false and invidious terms, saying that we rebaptize,
since the Church does not rebaptize heretics, but baptizes them."(4)
82. Truly enough it does not rebaptize them, because it only baptizes
those who were not baptized before; and this earlier custom has only been confirmed
in a later Council by a more careful perfecting of the truth.
CHAP. 43.--83. Demetrius of the Lesser Leptis(5) said: "We uphold one baptism, because
we claim for the Catholic Church alone what is her own. But those who say that
heretics baptize truly and lawfully are themselves the men who make, not two,
but many baptisms; for since heresies are many in number, the baptisms, too,
will be reckoned according to their number."(6)
84. To him we answer: If this were so, then would as many baptisms be
reckoned as there are works of the flesh, of which the apostle says "that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God;"(7) among which are
reckoned also heresies; and so many of those very works are tolerated within the
Church as though in the chaff, and yet there is one baptism for them all, which
is not vitiated by any work of unrighteousness.
CHAP. 44.--85. Vincentius of Thibari(8) said: "We know that heretics are worse than
heathens. If they, being converted, wish to come to God, they have assuredly a
rule of truth, which the Lord by His divine precept committed to the apostles,
saying, 'Go ye, lay on hands in my name, cast out devils; '(9) and in another
place, 'Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.'(10) Therefore, first by the laying on of
hands in exorcism, secondly by regeneration in baptism, they may come to the
promises of Christ; but my judgment is that in no other way should this be
done."(11)
86. By what rule he asserts that heretics are worse than heathens I do not
know, seeing that the Lord says, "If he neglect to hear the Church, let him be
unto thee as a heathen man and a publican."(12) Is a heretic worse even than
such? I do not gainsay it. I do not, however, allow that because the man himself
is worse than a heathen, that is, than a Gentile and pagan, therefore whatever
the sacrament contains that is Christ's is mingled with his vices and
character, and perishes through the corruption of such admixture. For if even those who
depart from the Church, and become not the followers but the founders of
heresies, have been baptized before their secession, they continue to have baptism,
although, according to the above rule, they are worse than heathens; for if on
correction they return, they do not receive it, as they certainly would do if
they had lost it. It is therefore possible that a man may be worse than a
heathen, and yet that the sacrament of Christ may not only be in him, but be not a
whir inferior to what it is in a holy and righteous man. For although to the
extent of his powers he has not preserved the sacrament, but done it violence in
heart and will, yet so far as the sacrament's own nature is concerned, it has
remained unhurt in its integrity even in the man who despised and rejected it.
Were not the people of Sodom heathens, that is to say, Gentiles? The Jews
therefore were worse, to whom the Lord says, "It shall be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee;"(1) and to whom the prophet says,
"Thou hast justified Sodom,"(2) that is to say, in comparison with thee Sodom
is righteous. Shall we, however, maintain that on this account the holy
sacraments which existed among the Jews partook of the nature of the Jews
themselves,--those sacraments which the Lord Himself also accepted, and sent the lepers
whom He had cleansed to fulfill them,(3) of which when Zacharias was administering
them, the angel stood by him, and declared that his prayer had been heard
while be was sacrificing in the temple?(4) These same sacraments were both in the
good men of that time, and in those bad men who were worse than are the
heathens, seeing that they were ranked before the Sodomites for wickedness, and yet
those sacraments were perfect and holy in both.
87. For even if the Gentiles themselves could have anything holy and right
in their doctrines, our saints did not condemn it, however much the Gentiles
themselves were to be detested for their superstitions and idolatry and pride,
and the rest of their corruptions, and to be punished with judgment from heaven
unless they submitted to correction. For when Paul the apostle also was saying
something concerning God before the Athenians, he adduced as a proof or what he
said, that certain of them had said something to the same effect,(5) which
certainly would not be condemned but recognized in them if they should come to
Christ. And the holy Cyprian uses similar evidence against the same heathens; for,
speaking of the magi, he says, "The chief of them, however, Hostanes, asserts
both that the form of the true God cannot be seen, and also that true angels
stand beside His seat. In which Plato also agrees in like manner, and,
maintaining the existence of one God, he calls the others angels or demons. Hermes
Trismegistus also speaks of one God, and confesses that He is incomprehensible, and
past our powers of estimation."(6) If, therefore, they were to come to the
perception of salvation in Christ, it surely would not be said to them, This that ye
have is bad, or false; but clearly it would deservedly be said, Though this in
you is perfect and true, yet it would profit nothing unless ye came to the
grace of Christ. If, therefore, anything that is holy can be found and rightly
approved in the very heathens, although the salvation which is of Christ is not
yet to be granted to them, we ought not, even though heretics are worse than
they, to be moved to the desire of correcting what is bad in them belonging to
themselves, without being willing to acknowledge what is good in them of Christ.
But we will set forth from a fresh preface to consider the remaining judgments of
this Council.