the church fathers on baptismal regeneration

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The Church Fathers on Baptismal Regeneration

Jun 15th, 2010 | By Bryan Cross | Category: Featured Articles

According to PCA pastor Wes White, the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is “impossible inthe Reformed system.” 1 By noting this, he intends to show that we should reject the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. But if the evidence for the truth of the doctrine of baptismal regenerationis stronger than the evidence for the truth of the “Reformed system,” then the incompatibility of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration and the Reformed system serves as evidence against theReformed system. Here I present both Patristic and Scriptural evidence for the truth of thedoctrine of baptismal regeneration.

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The Baptism of the Neophytes Masaccio (c. 1426-27)

Cappella Brancacci, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

Outline

I. Introduction II. Church Fathers on Baptism A. Second Century B. Third Century C. Fourth Century D. Fifth Century E. Sixth Century III. Scripture on Baptism

I. Introduction

The only sacrament mentioned by name in the Creed is baptism. We confess in the Creed: “Ibelieve in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” Because Protestants and Catholics share thesame Trinitarian baptism, we share a certain real but imperfect unity. But baptism is also a pointof disagreement not only between Protestants and Catholics, but also between various Protestanttraditions. The Catholic Church has always believed and taught that the grace by which we areborn again comes to us through the sacrament of baptism. A small percentage of Protestantsagree with the Catholic Church that through baptism we are regenerated with the life of God,cleansed of all our sins, and brought into the Kingdom of God. But many other Protestants think that justification is not through baptism, but by “faith alone,” or by some kind of “sinner’sprayer .” Some Protestants believe that baptism is only a symbol, something not to be done until aperson is old enough to understand the gospel for himself. Other Protestants believe that baptismis like circumcision in the Abrahamic covenant, not efficacious for rebirth and the reception of the grace of divine life but only a ‘confirmation’ or ‘seal’ of faith through which one is broughtinto the New Covenant family.

One way that we resolve these disagreements about what baptism is and what it does, is toconsider what the Church Fathers believed and taught about baptism. Here I am only focusing onwhat the Church Fathers say about the relation between baptism and regeneration. I have keptmy commentary to a minimum, providing only needed explanatory notes. After examining whatthe Church Fathers say about this subject, I then offer a brief summary of the New Testamentteaching regarding the relation of baptism and regeneration.

II. Church Fathers on Baptism A. Second Century Fathers

In AD 107, St. Ignatius , bishop of Antioch, wrote a letter to the Church at Ephesus, while beingescorted by Roman soldiers to Rome to be martyred. In that letter he writes:








For our God, Jesus Christ , was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb byMary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by Hispassion He might purify the water. ( Epistle to the Ephesians , 18)

This notion that Christ purified the waters is found in other Church Fathers as well, but this is the

earliest record we have of the statement. Christ was not purified by being baptized, since Christwas already pure. Rather, in His baptism, the waters were purified for our sake, that when we arebaptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we are purified, not bythe removal of dirt from the body, but by the forgiveness of sin and the reception of the Life of God within us.

Here is a selection from the eleventh chapter of the Epistle of Barnabas (A.D. 130) describingbaptism:

“This means that we go down into the water full of sins and foulness, and we come up bearingfruit in our hearts, fear and hope in Jesus and in the Spirit.”

Baptism is here described as immediately removing sins and producing immediate fruit in theheart. The notion that baptism bears immediate fruit in the heart implies that baptism regeneratesthe baptized person.

Here is a selection from chapter 16 of the ninth Similitude of the Shepherd of Hermas (earlysecond century):

They were obliged,” he answered, “to ascend through water in order that they might be madealive; for, unless they laid aside the deadness of their life, they could not in any other way enterinto the kingdom of God. … For,” he continued, “before a man bears the name of the Son of God

he is dead; but when he receives the seal he lays aside his deadness, and obtains life. The seal,then, is the water: they descend into the water dead, and they arise alive. And to them,accordingly, was this seal preached, and they made use of it that they might enter into thekingdom of God.” ( Shepherd of Hermas )

Just as in the Epistle of Barnabas , the candidate is described as going into the water dead, andcoming out alive. Not only that, but through baptism we are said to enter into the kingdom of God.

Next, is the well known figure of St. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165). Here are some selections fromhis First Apology :

“I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been madenew through Christ; lest, if we omit this, we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making.As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to beable to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remissionof their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. They then are brought by us wherethere is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated.For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ,








and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. . . . The reason for this we havereceived from the Apostles.” (Chapter 61)

And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed topartake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been

washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is soliving as Christ has enjoined. (Chapter 66)

Notice that Justin Martyr, writing about fifty years after the death of the Apostle John, claimsthat they received from the Apostles the doctrine that through baptism they receive “remission of sins that are past” [i.e. prior to baptism], and through baptism they are “regenerated” in the samemanner that all Christians were regenerated (i.e. by baptism).

In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, St. Justin contrasts Christian baptism with the Jewishbaptism, writing:

By reason, therefore, of this laver of repentance and knowledge of God, which has been ordainedon account of the transgression of God’s people, as Isaiah cries, we have believed, and testifythat that very baptism which he announced is alone able to purify those who have repented; andthis is the water of life. But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are broken andprofitless to you. For what is the use of that baptism which cleanses the flesh and body alone?(ch. 14)

This [Jewish] circumcision is not, however, necessary for all men, but for you [Jews] alone, inorder that, as I have already said, you may suffer these things which you now justly suffer. Nordo we receive that useless baptism of cisterns, for it has nothing to do with this baptism of life.Wherefore also God has announced that you have forsaken Him, the living fountain, and dug for

yourselves broken cisterns which can hold no water. Even you, who are the circumcisedaccording to the flesh, have need of our circumcision; but we, having the latter, do not requirethe former. ( ch. 19)

As, then, circumcision began with Abraham, and the Sabbath and sacrifices and offerings andfeasts with Moses, and it has been proved they were enjoined on account of the hardness of yourpeople’s heart, so it was necessary, in accordance with the Father’s will, that they should have anend in Him who was born of a virgin, of the family of Abraham and tribe of Judah, and of David;in Christ the Son of God, who was proclaimed as about to come to all the world, to be theeverlasting law and the everlasting covenant, even as the forementioned prophecies show. Andwe, who have approached God through Him, have received not carnal, but spiritual circumcision,which Enoch and those like him observed. And we have received it through baptism, since wewere sinners, by God’s mercy; and all men may equally obtain it. (ch. 43)

When the Fathers speak of the “laver” or the “laver of “repentance” or the “laver of regeneration,” they are speaking of baptism. Here, St. Justin is contrasting Christian baptismwith Jewish baptisms. According to St. Justin, Christians receive spiritual circumcision throughbaptism.








Next consider the following quotation from St. Theophilus bishop of Antioch from 169-182:

On the fifth day [of creation] the living creatures which proceed from the waters were produced,through which also is revealed the manifold wisdom of God in these things; for who could counttheir multitude and very various kinds? Moreover, the things proceeding from the waters were

blessed by God, that this also might be a sign of men’s being destined to receive repentance andremission of sins, through the water and laver of regeneration, — as many as come to the truth,and are born again, and receive blessing from God. ( To Autolycus , Bk II)

Next consider the second century bishop of Lyon, St. Irenaeus (b. 115-130, d. around 200 AD).In his work titled Against Heresies , he writes,

And when we come to refute them [i.e. those heretics], we shall show in its fitting-place, that thisclass of men have been instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration toGod, and thus to a renunciation of the whole [Christian] faith. ( A.H. , I.21)

And again, giving to the disciples the power of regeneration into God, He said to them, “Go andteach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the HolyGhost.” ( Matthew 28:19 ) … “The Lord also promised to send the Comforter, who should join usto God (St. John. 16:7). For as a compacted lump of dough cannot be formed of dry wheatwithout fluid matter, nor can a loaf possess unity, so, in like manner, neither could we, beingmany be made one in Christ Jesus without the water from heaven. And as dry earth does notbring forth unless it receive moisture, in like manner we also, being originally a dry tree, couldnever have brought forth fruit unto life without the voluntary rain from above. For our bodieshave received unity among themselves by means of that laver which leads to incorruption; butour souls by means of the Spirit. Wherefore both are necessary, since both contribute towards thelife of God.” ( A.H ., III.17)

Notice that we are “joined to God”, made “one in Christ” [that is, believers are made into onebody, Christ's Body] by the “the water from heaven,” by which we are made alive (i.e.regenerated) in order to bring forth fruit unto life. For St. Irenaeus, to be joined to Christ is to be

joined to His Mystical Body (the Church) through baptism. St. Irenaeus calls baptism that “laverwhich leads to incorruption.” Through baptism our physical bodies are protected from eternalcorruption, and our souls, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the baptismal water,are made participants in the life of God. In Book Five of Against Heresies , he writes:

And inasmuch as man, with respect to that formation which, was after Adam, having fallen intotransgression, needed the laver of regeneration, [the Lord] said to him [upon whom He hadconferred sight], after He had smeared his eyes with the clay, “Go to Siloam, and wash;” John9:7 thus restoring to him both [his perfect] confirmation, and that regeneration which takes placeby means of the laver. And for this reason when he was washed he came seeing, that he mightboth know Him who had fashioned him, and that man might learn [to know] Him who hasconferred upon him life. ( A.H. , V.15)

St. Irenaeus says elsewhere:








“Now, this is what faith does for us, as the elders, the disciples of the apostles, have handeddown to us. First of all, it admonishes us to remember that we have received baptism for theremission of sins in the name of God the Father, and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,who became incarnate and died and raised, and in the Holy Spirit of God; and that this baptism isthe seal of eternal life and is rebirth unto God, that we be no more children of mortal men, but of

the eternal everlasting God; and that the eternal and everlasting One is God, and is above allcreatures, and that all things whatsoever are subject to Him; and that what is subject to Him wasall made by Him; so that God is not ruler and Lord of what is another’s, but of His own, and allthings are God’s; that God, therefore, is the Almighty, and all things whatsoever are from God.”(The Proof of Apostolic Preaching )

Notice that St. Irenaus says that the Christians receive baptism “for the remission of sins.” Therecan be no justification without the forgiveness of sins. And hence if baptism is for theforgiveness of sins, then it is through baptism that we are justified. In one of the fragments, St.Irenaeus writes:

“And dipped himself,” says [the Scripture], “seven times in Jordan.” ( 2 Kings 5:14 ) It was notfor nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his beingbaptized, but [it served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, bymeans of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; beingspiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: “Unless a man be bornagain through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” ( John 3:5 )(Fragments , 34)

B. Third Century Fathers

Next consider St. Clement of Alexandria (d. 215), in The Paedagogus ([Christ] the Educator):Is it, then, that [Christ] was made perfect only in the sense of being washed, and that He wasconsecrated by the descent of the Holy Spirit? Such is the case. The same also takes place in ourcase, whose exemplar Christ became. Being baptized, we are illuminated; illuminated, webecome sons; being made sons, we are made perfect; being made perfect, we are made immortal.“I,” says He, “have said that you are gods, and all sons of the Highest.” This work is variouslycalled grace, and illumination, and perfection, and washing: washing, by which we cleanse awayour sins; grace, by which the penalties accruing to transgressions are remitted; and illumination,by which that holy light of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly. Finally, wecall it ‘perfection’ as needing nothing further, for what more does he need who possesses theknowledge of God? It would indeed be out of place to call something that was not fully perfect agift of God.” …

For what ignorance has bound ill, is by knowledge loosed well; those bonds are with all speedslackened by human faith and divine grace, our transgressions being taken away by one Pœonianmedicine, the baptism of the Word. We are washed from all our sins, and are no longer entangledin evil. This is the one grace of illumination, that our characters are not the same as before ourwashing. And since knowledge springs up with illumination, shedding its beams around the








mind, the moment we hear, we who were untaught become disciples. Does this, I ask, take placeon the advent of this instruction? You cannot tell the time. For instruction leads to faith, and faithwith baptism is trained by the Holy Spirit.

In the same way, therefore, we also, repenting of our sins, renouncing our iniquities, purified by

baptism, speed back to the eternal light, children to the Father. (Book I, Chapter 6)

In chapter 12 of Book I, St. Clement writes:

He Himself formed man of the dust, and regenerated him by water; and made him grow by hisSpirit; and trained him by His word to adoption and salvation, directing him by sacred precepts;in order that, transforming earth-born man into a holy and heavenly being by His advent, Hemight fulfil to the utmost that divine utterance, “Let Us make man in Our own image andlikeness.” ( Genesis 1:26 ) And, in truth, Christ became the perfect realization of what God spoke;and the rest of humanity is conceived as being created merely in His image. ( Paedagogus , Bk I,Chapter 12)

In the next chapter he writes:

the transparent Word, by whom the flesh, regenerated by water, becomes precious. ( Paedagogus ,Chapter 13)

St. Clement teaches that in baptism we are cleansed, i.e. completely purified from our sins.

It ought to be known, then, that those who fall into sin after baptism are those who are subjectedto discipline; for the deeds done before [baptism] are remitted, and those done after are purged.(Stromata , IV.24)

In baptism all the sins committed prior to baptism are remitted. But baptism cannot be repeated.So confession, prayer and penance are for sins committed after baptism. Elsewhere he writes:

For it is said, “Put on him the best robe,” which was his the moment he obtained baptism. I meanthe glory of baptism, the remission of sins, and the communication of the other blessings, whichhe obtained immediately he had touched the font. ( Fragments , Parable of the Prodigal Son)

Next consider Tertullian (c. 160- c. 240) in his work “ On Baptism .” (written between 200 and206): 2

“Happy is the sacrament of our water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness,we are set free, [and admitted] into eternal life! … But we, little fishes, after the example of ourΙΧΘΥΣ Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permane ntlyabiding in [that] water.” (chapter 1)

All waters, therefore, in virtue of the pristine privilege of their origin, do, after invocation of God, attain the sacramental power of sanctification; for the Spirit immediately supervenes fromthe heavens, and rests over the waters, sanctifying them from Himself; and being thus sanctified,








they imbibe at the same time the power of sanctifying. Albeit the similitude may be admitted tobe suitable to the simple act; that, since we are defiled by sins, as it were by dirt, we should bewashed from those stains in waters. But as sins do not show themselves in our flesh (inasmuch asno one carries on his skin the spot of idolatry, or fornication, or fraud), so persons of that kindare foul in the spirit , which is the author of the sin; for the spirit is lord, the flesh servant. Yet

they each mutually share the guilt: the spirit, on the ground of command; the flesh, of subservience. Therefore, after the waters have been in a manner endued with medicinal virtuethrough the intervention of the angel, the spirit is corporeally washed in the waters, and the fleshis in the same spiritually cleansed. (chapter 4)

And thus, when the grace of God advanced to higher degrees among men, ( John 1:16-17 ) anaccession of efficacy was granted to the waters and to the angel [who stirred the waters]. Theywho were wont to remedy bodily defects, now heal the spirit; they who used to work temporalsalvation now renew eternal; they who did set free but once in the year, now save peoples in abody daily, death being done away through ablution of sins. The guilt being removed, of coursethe penalty is removed too. Thus man will be restored for God to His “likeness,” who in days

bygone had been conformed to “the image” of God; (the “image” is counted (to be) in his form:the “likeness” in his eternity:) for he receives again that Spirit of God which he had then firstreceived from His afflatus, but had afterward lost through sin. (chapter 5)

Thus, too, in our case, the unction [the anointing oil given in confirmation] runs carnally, ( i.e. onthe body,) but profits spiritually; in the same way as the act of baptism itself too is carnal, in thatwe are plunged in water, but the effect spiritual, in that we are freed from sins. (chapter 7)

And thus it was with the selfsame “baptism of John” that His disciples used to baptize, asministers, with which John before had baptized as forerunner. Let none think it was with someother, because no other exists, except that of Christ subsequently; which at that time, of course,

could not be given by His disciples, inasmuch as the glory of the Lord had not yet been fullyattained, 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 our life berestored without His resurrection. (chapter 11)

“When, however, the prescript is laid down that ‘without baptism, salvation is attainable bynone’ (chiefly on the ground of that declaration of the Lord, who says, ‘Unless one be born of water, he has not life’ [Jn. 3:5]” (chapter 12)

Here, then, those miscreants provoke questions. And so they say, “Baptism is not necessary forthem to whom faith is sufficient; for withal, Abraham pleased God by a sacrament of no water,but of faith.” But in all cases it is the later things which have a conclusive force, and thesubsequent which prevail over the antecedent. Grant that, in days gone by, there was salvation bymeans of bare faith, before the passion and resurrection of the Lord. But now that faith has beenenlarged, and has become a faith which believes in His nativity, passion, and resurrection, therehas been an amplification added to the sacrament, viz., the sealing act of baptism; the clothing, insome sense, of the faith which before was bare, and which cannot exist now without its properlaw. For the law of baptizing has been imposed, and the formula prescribed: “Go,” He says,“teach the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy








Spirit.” The comparison with this law of that definition, “Unless a man have been reborn of water and Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens,” has tied faith to thenecessity of baptism. Accordingly, all thereafter who became believers used to be baptized. Thenit was, too, that Paul, when he believed, was baptized; and this is the meaning of the preceptwhich the Lord had given him when smitten with the plague of loss of sight, saying, “Arise, and

enter Damascus; there shall be demonstrated to you what you ought to do,” to wit— be baptized,which was the only thing lacking to him. (chapter 13)

They who are about to enter baptism ought to pray with repeated prayers, fasts, and bendings of the knee, and vigils all the night through, and with the confession of all bygone sins, that theymay express the meaning even of the baptism of John: “They were baptized,” says (theScripture), “confessing their own sins.” To us it is matter for thankfulness if we do now publiclyconfess our iniquities or our turpitudes: for we do at the same time both make satisfaction for ourformer sins, by mortification of our flesh and spirit, and lay beforehand the foundation of defences against the temptations which will closely follow. … Therefore, blessed ones [i.e.Catechumens], 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, togetherwith your brethren, ask from the Father, ask from the Lord, that His own specialties of grace anddistributions of gifts ( 1 Corinthians 12:4-12 ) may be supplied you. (Chapter 20)

Notice in the quotation from chapter 1 that Tertullian says that baptism washes away our sins,sets us free (from sin), and admits us into eternal life. In the second quotation he describes howthe Spirit supervenes over the water, to work in us in baptism. His comment about the angel is areference to the Gospel of John chapter 5 verses 2-4. This account is viewed by the Fathers as aprefiguring of baptism. In the quotation from chapter 7 we see the general view of thesacraments; they involve a physical principle, but the Holy Spirit operates spiritually throughthem. In the quotation from chapter 12, we see that Tertullian, like all the fathers, sees John 3:5 as teaching about baptism.

In chapter eight of his work titled “ On the Resurrection of the Flesh ,” Tertullian writes:

“[T]he flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. And since the soul is, inconsequence of its salvation, chosen to the service of God, it is the flesh which actually renders itcapable of such service. The flesh, indeed, is washed, in order that the soul may be cleansed; theflesh is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is signed (with the cross), that thesoul too may be fortified; the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands, that the soul alsomaybe illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soullikewise may fatten on its God. They cannot then be separated in their recompense, when theyare united in their service.”

He goes into the other sacraments here, but with regard to baptism, notice that the soul iscleansed by the washing of the flesh with water.

St. Hippolytus of Rome , (d. 236), in his “ Discourse on the Holy Theophany ,” writes:








The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man inorder to wash him with water and the Spirit; and He, begetting us again to incorruption of souland body, breathed into us the breath (spirit) of life, and endued us with an incorruptiblepanoply. If, therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God. And if he is made God bywater and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the laver he is found to be also joint-heir with

Christ after the resurrection from the dead. Wherefore I preach to this effect: Come, all youkindreds of the nations, to the immortality of the baptism. I bring good tidings of life to you whotarry in the darkness of ignorance. Come into liberty from slavery, into a kingdom from tyranny,into incorruption from corruption. And how, says one, shall we come? How? By water and theHoly Ghost. This is the water in conjunction with the Spirit, by which paradise is watered, bywhich the earth is enriched, by which plants grow, by which animals multiply, and (to sum upthe whole in a single word) by which man is begotten again and endued with life, in which alsoChrist was baptized, and in which the Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

This is the Spirit that at the beginning “moved upon the waters;” by whom the world moves; bywhom creation consists, and all things have life; who also wrought mightily in the prophets, and

descended in flight upon Christ. This is the Spirit that was given to the apostles in the form of fiery tongues. This is the Spirit that David sought when he said, “Create in me a clean heart, OGod, and renew a right spirit within me.” Of this Spirit Gabriel also spoke to the Virgin, “TheHoly Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you.” By thisSpirit Peter spoke that blessed word, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” By thisSpirit the rock of the Church was established. This is the Spirit, the Comforter, that is sentbecause of you, that He may show you to be the Son of God.

Come then, be begotten again, O man, into the adoption of God. And how? Says one. If youpractise adultery no more, and commit not murder, and serve not idols; if you are notovermastered by pleasure; if you do not suffer the feeling of pride to rule you; if you clean off the filthiness of impurity, and put off the burden of sin; if you cast off the armour of the devil,and put on the breastplate of faith, even as Isaiah says, “Wash, and seek judgment, relieve theoppressed, judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow. And come and let us reason together,says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, I shall make them white as snow; and though theybe like crimson, I shall make them white as wool. And if you be willing, and hear my voice, youshall eat the good of the land.” Do you see, beloved, how the prophet spoke beforetime of thepurifying power of baptism? For he who comes down in faith to the laver of regeneration, andrenounces the devil, and joins himself to Christ; who denies the enemy, and makes theconfession that Christ is God; who puts off the bondage, and puts on the adoption,— he comesup from the baptism brilliant as the sun, flashing forth the beams of righteousness, and, which isindeed the chief thing, he returns a son of God and joint-heir with Christ. ( Discourse on the HolyTheophany )

In another work he writes:

For her [i.e. the Church's] prow is the east, and her stern is the west, and her hold is the south,and her tillers are the two Testaments; and the ropes that stretch around her are the love of Christ, which binds the Church; and the net which she bears with her is the laver of the








regeneration which renews the believing, whence too are these glories. ( On Christ and Anti-Christ , para. 59)

Next consider a selection from Origen (185 – 254):

We next remark in passing that the baptism of John was inferior to the baptism of Jesus whichwas given through His disciples. Those persons in the Acts ( Acts 19:2 ) who were baptized toJohn’s baptism and who had not heard if there was any Holy Ghost are baptized over again bythe Apostle. Regeneration did not take place with John, but with Jesus through His disciples itdoes so, and what is called the laver of regeneration takes place with renewal of the Spirit.(Commentary on John , Bk VI.17)

Next consider St. Cyprian (c. 200 – 258), bishop of Carthage, in his First Epistle (To Donatus),he writes:

While I was still lying in darkness and gloomy night, wavering hither and thither, tossed about

on the foam of this boastful age, and uncertain of my wandering steps, knowing nothing of myreal life, and remote from truth and light, I used to regard it as a difficult matter, and especiallyas difficult in respect of my character at that time, that a man should be capable of being bornagain — a truth which the divine mercy had announced for my salvation, and that a manquickened to a new life in the laver of saving water should be able to put off what he hadpreviously been; and, although retaining all his bodily structure, should be himself changed inheart and soul. (section 3)

For as I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my previous life, from which Idid not believe that I could by possibility be delivered, so I was disposed to acquiesce in myclinging vices; and because I despaired of better things, I used to indulge my sins as if they were

actually parts of me, and indigenous to me. But after that, by the help of the water of new birth,the stain of former years had been washed away, and a light from above, serene and pure, hadbeen infused into my reconciled heart, after that, by the agency of the Spirit breathed fromheaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man; then, in a wondrous manner, doubtfulthings at once began to assure themselves to me, hidden things to be revealed, dark things to beenlightened, what before had seemed difficult began to suggest a means of accomplishment,what had been thought impossible, to be capable of being achieved; so that I was enabled toacknowledge that what previously, being born of the flesh, had been living in the practice of sins,was of the earth earthly, but had now begun to be of God, and was animated by the Spirit of holiness. (section 4)

In his Fifty-first Epistle , he writes:

But I wonder that some are so obstinate as to think that repentance is not to be granted to thelapsed, or to suppose that pardon is to be denied to the penitent, when it is written, “Rememberwhence you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works,” ( Revelation 2:5 ) which certainly issaid to him who evidently has fallen, and whom the Lord exhorts to rise up again by his works,because it is written, “Alms do deliver from death,” Tobit 4:10 and not, assuredly, from thatdeath which once the blood of Christ extinguished, and from which the saving grace of baptism








and of our Redeemer has delivered us, but from that which subsequently creeps in through sins.(Epistle 51.22)

In his Fifty-fourth Epistle , he writes:

The highest degree of happiness is, not to sin; the second, to acknowledge our sins. In theformer, innocence flows pure and unstained to preserve us; in the latter, there comes a medicineto heal us. Both of these they have lost by offending God, both because the grace is lost which isreceived from the sanctification of baptism, and repentance comes not to their help, whereby thesin is healed. (Epistle 54.13)

In his Fifty-eighth Epistle he writes:

“[H]ow much rather ought we to shrink from hindering an infant, who, being lately born, has notsinned, except in that, being born after the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted thecontagion of the ancient death at its earliest birth, who approaches the more easily on this very

account to the reception of forgiveness of sins, that to him are remitted, not his own sins, but thesins of another.” (Epistle 58)

St. Cyprian is teaching here in this last quotation that in infant baptism, the infant receivesforgiveness of original sin. In his sixty-second Epistle, St. Cyprian writes:

“If any man thirst, let him come and drink. He that believes in me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And that it might be more evident that the Lord isspeaking there, not of the cup, but of baptism, the Scripture adds, saying, “But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe in Him should receive.” For by baptism the Holy Spirit isreceived; and thus by those who are baptized, and have attained to the Holy Spirit, is attained the

drinking of the Lord’s cup. And let it disturb no one, that when the divine Scripture speaks of baptism, it says that we thirst and drink, since the Lord also in the Gospel says, “Blessed are theywhich do hunger and thirst after righteousness; ” ( Matthew 5:6 ) because what is received with agreedy and thirsting desire is drunk more fully and plentifully. As also, in another place, the Lordspeaks to the Samaritan woman, saying, “Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again; butwhosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever.” ( John 4:13-14 ) Bywhich is also signified the very baptism of saving water, which indeed is once received, and isnot again repeated. But the cup of the Lord is always both thirsted for and drunk in the Church.( Epistle 62 )

In his seventy-third Epistle , St. Cyprian argued that baptism among the heretics was no baptism

at all, and therefore that when such heretics were later received into the Catholic Church, theyshould be baptized. St. Cyprian was wrong about the invalidity of baptism among the heretics,but his reasoning shows what the Church believed about the nature of baptism. He writes:

Moreover, it is silly to say, that although the second birth is spiritual, by which we are born inChrist through the laver of regeneration, one may be born spiritually among the heretics, wherethey say that the Spirit is not. For water alone is not able to cleanse away sins, and to sanctify aman, unless he have also the Holy Spirit. Wherefore it is necessary that they [the heretics] should








grant the Holy Spirit to be there, where they say that baptism is; or else there is no baptism wherethe Holy Spirit is not, because there cannot be baptism without the Spirit. (section 5)

But what a thing it is, to assert and contend that they who are not born in the Church can be thesons of God! For the blessed apostle sets forth and proves that baptism is that wherein the old

man dies and the new man is born, saying, “He saved us by the washing of regeneration.” [ Titus3:5 ] But if regeneration is in the washing, that is, in baptism, how can heresy, which is not thespouse of Christ, generate sons to God by Christ? For it is the Church alone which, conjoinedand united with Christ, spiritually bears sons; as the same apostle again says, “Christ loved theChurch, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it with the washing of water.” If, then, she is the beloved and spouse who alone is sanctified by Christ, and alone iscleansed by His washing, it is manifest that heresy, which is not the spouse of Christ, nor can becleansed nor sanctified by His washing, cannot bear sons to God. (section 6)

But further, one is not born by the imposition of hands when he receives the Holy Ghost [in thesacrament of confirmation], but in baptism, that so, being already born, he may receive the Holy

Spirit, even as it happened in the first man Adam. For first God formed him, and then breathedinto his nostrils the breath of life. For the Spirit cannot be received, unless he who receives firsthave an existence. But as the birth of Christians is in baptism, while the generation andsanctification of baptism are with the spouse of Christ alone, who is able spiritually to conceiveand to bear sons to God, where and of whom and to whom is he born, who is not a son of theChurch, so as that he should have God as his Father, before he has had the Church for hisMother? (section 7)

In his seventy-fourth Epistle he writes on the same subject:

But if the baptism of heretics can have the regeneration of the second birth, those who are

baptized among them must be counted not heretics, but children of God. For the second birth,which occurs in baptism, begets sons of God. … [Pope] Stephen, who announces that he holdsby succession the throne of Peter, is stirred with no zeal against heretics, when he concedes tothem, not a moderate, but the very greatest power of grace: so far as to say and assert that, by thesacrament of baptism, the filth of the old man is washed away by them, that they pardon theformer mortal sins, that they make sons of God by heavenly regeneration, and renew to eternallife by the sanctification of the divine laver. … And this is observed among us, that whosoeverdipped by them come to us are baptized among us as strangers and having obtained nothing, withthe only and true baptism of the Catholic Church, and obtain the regeneration of the laver of life.( Epistle 74 )

In his fourth Treatise , St. Cyprian writes:

After this we say, “Hallowed be Your name; “not that we wish for God that He may be hallowedby our prayers, but that we beseech of Him that His name may be hallowed in us. But by whomis God sanctified, since He Himself sanctifies? Well, because He says, “Be holy, even as I amholy,” ( Leviticus 20:7 ) we ask and entreat, that we who were sanctified in baptism may continuein that which we have begun to be. And this we daily pray for; for we have need of dailysanctification, that we who daily fall away may wash out our sins by continual sanctification.








And what the sanctification is which is conferred upon us by the condescension of God, theapostle declares, when he says, “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor deceivers, nor drunkards, nor revilers,nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such indeed were you; but you arewashed; but you are justified; but you are sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by

the Spirit of our God.” ( 1 Corinthians 6:9 ) He says that we are sanctified in the name of our LordJesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. We pray that this sanctification may abide in us andbecause our Lord and Judge warns the man that was healed and quickened by Him, to sin nomore lest a worse thing happen unto him, we make this supplication in our constant prayers, weask this day and night, that the sanctification and quickening which is received from the grace of God may be preserved by His protection. ( Treatise 4.12)

In his eighth Treatise , St. Cyprian writes:

The Holy Spirit speaks in the sacred Scriptures, and says, “By almsgiving and faith sins arepurged.” Not assuredly those sins which had been previously contracted, for those are purged by

the blood and sanctification of Christ. Moreover, He says again, “As water extinguishes fire, soalmsgiving quenches sin.” ( Sirach 3:30 ) Here also it is shown and proved, that as in the laver of saving water the fire of Gehenna is extinguished, so by almsgiving and works of righteousnessthe flame of sins is subdued. And because in baptism remission of sins is granted once for all,constant and ceaseless labour, following the likeness of baptism, once again bestows the mercyof God. The Lord teaches this also in the Gospel. For when the disciples were pointed out, aseating and not first washing their hands, He replied and said, “He that made that which is within,made also that which is without. But give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you; ” ( Luke11:41 ) teaching hereby and showing, that not the hands are to be washed, but the heart, and thatthe foulness from inside is to be done away rather than that from outside; but that he who shallhave cleansed what is within has cleansed also that which is without; and that if the mind iscleansed, a man has begun to be clean also in skin and body. Further, admonishing, and showingwhence we may be clean and purged, He added that alms must be given. He who is pitifulteaches and warns us that pity must be shown; and because He seeks to save those whom at agreat cost He has redeemed, He teaches that those who, after the grace of baptism, have becomefoul, may once more be cleansed. ( Treatise 8)

In his ninth Treatise he writes:

His immortality being in the meantime laid aside, He suffers Himself to become mortal, so thatthe guiltless may be put to death for the salvation of the guilty. The Lord is baptized by theservant; and He who is about to bestow remission of sins, does not Himself disdain to wash Hisbody in the laver of regeneration. ( Treatise 9)

In his tenth Treatise , he writes:

Let us, then, who in baptism have both died and been buried in respect of the carnal sins of theold man, who have risen again with Christ in the heavenly regeneration, both think upon and dothe things which are Christ’s, even as the same apostle again teaches and counsels, saying: “Thefirst man is of the dust of the earth; the second man is from heaven” ( Treatise 10.14)








St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (213 – ca. 270) writes:

[S]ee John the Baptist as he baptizes One [i.e. Christ] who needs no baptism, and yet submits tothe rite in order that He may bestow freely upon us the grace of baptism. Come, let us view theimage of our regeneration, as it is emblematically presented in these waters. ( On Christ’s

Baptism )

In another work he writes:

He was baptized in Jordan, not as receiving any sanctification for Himself, but as gifting aparticipation in sanctification to others. ( Twelve Topics on Faith , 12)

St. Pamphilus of Caesarea (d. 309), in his “ Exposition on the Acts of the Apostles ,” in which hesummarizes the Acts of the Apostles, writes:

Of the divine descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost which lighted on them who

believed. In this we have also the instruction delivered by Peter, and passages from the prophetson the subject, and on the passion and resurrection and assumption of Christ, and the gift of theHoly Ghost; also of the faith of those present, and their salvation by baptism; and, further, of theunity of spirit pervading the believers and promoting the common good, and of the additionmade to their number.

St. Methodius , bishop of Olympus (d. 311), in his Discourse on the Resurrection , writes:

For while the body still lives, before it has passed through death, sin must also live with it, as ithas its roots concealed within us even though it be externally checked by the wounds inflicted bycorrections and warnings; since, otherwise, it would not happen that we do wrong after baptism,

as we should be entirely and absolutely free from sin. But now, even after believing, and after thetime of being touched by the water of sanctification, we are oftentimes found in sin. For no onecan boast of being so free from sin as not even to have an evil thought. So that it has come topass that sin is now restrained and lulled to sleep by faith, so that it does not produce injuriousfruits, but yet is not torn up by the roots. For the present we restrain its sprouts, such as evilimaginations, “test any root of bitterness springing up trouble” ( Hebrews 12:15 ) us, not sufferingits leaves to unclose and open into shoots; while the Word, like an axe, cuts at its roots whichgrow below. But hereafter the very thought of evil will disappear. ( Discourse on the

Resurrection )

In his Oration on Simeon and Anna , he writes:

Wherefore with divine wisdom did he, who had foreknowledge of these events, oppose thebringing in of the thankful Anna to the casting out of the ungrateful synagogue. Her very namealso pre-signifies the Church, that by the grace of Christ and God is justified in baptism. ForAnna is, by interpretation, grace. ( Oration on Simeon and Anna , 12)

In the third Discourse of his “Banquet of the Ten Virgins ,” he writes:








[I]t was for this cause that the Word, leaving His Father in heaven, came down to be “joined toHis wife; ” ( Ephesians 5:31 ) and slept in the trance of His passion, and willingly suffered deathfor her, that He might present the Church to Himself glorious and blameless, having cleansed herby the laver, ( Ephesians 5:26-27 ) for the receiving of the spiritual and blessed seed, which issown by Him who with whispers implants it in the depths of the mind; and is conceived and

formed by the Church, as by a woman, so as to give birth and nourishment to virtue. For in thisway, too, the command, “Increase and multiply,” Genesis 1:18 is duly fulfilled, the Churchincreasing daily in greatness and beauty and multitude, by the union and communion of theWord who now still comes down to us and falls into a trance by the memorial of His passion; forotherwise the Church could not conceive believers, and give them new birth by the laver of regeneration, unless Christ, emptying Himself for their sake, that He might be contained bythem, as I said, through the recapitulation of His passion, should die again, coming down fromheaven, and being “joined to His wife,” the Church, should provide for a certain power beingtaken from His own side, so that all who are built up in Him should grow up, even those who areborn again by the laver, receiving of His bones and of His flesh, that is, of His holiness and of His glory. ( Banquet of the Ten Virgins , Discourse 3)

In the eighth Discourse of the Ten Virgins , he writes:

Now the statement … denotes the faith of those who are cleansed from corruption in the laver of regeneration, …. Whence it is necessary that she [i.e. the Church] should stand upon the laver,bringing forth those who are washed in it. And in this way the power which she has inconnection with the laver is called the moon, because the regenerate shine being renewed with anew ray, that is, a new light. ( Banquet of the Ten Virgins , Discourse 8)

C. Fourth Century Fathers

Aphraates (280 – 367), a bishop in Syria, in his Sixth Demonstration , writes:

Therefore, my beloved, we also have received of the Spirit of Christ, and Christ dwells in us , as itis written that the Spirit said this through the mouth of the Prophet: I will dwell in them and willwalk in them . Therefore let us prepare our temples for the Spirit of Christ, and let us not grieve itthat it may not depart from us. Remember the warning that the Apostle gives us: Grieve not the

Holy Spirit whereby you have been sealed unto the day of redemption. For from baptism do wereceive the Spirit of Christ. For in that hour in which the priests invoke the Spirit, the heavensopen and it descends and moves upon the waters . And those that are baptized are clothed in it;for the Spirit stays aloof from all that are born of the flesh, until they come to the new birth bywater, and then they receive the Holy Spirit. For in the first birth they are born with an animalsouls which is created within man and is not thereafter subject to death, as he said: Adam becamea living soul . But in the second birth, that through baptism, they received the Holy Spirit from aparticle of the Godhead, and it is not again subject to death. For when men die, the animal spiritis buried with the body, and sense is taken away from it, but the heavenly spirit that they receivegoes according to its nature to Christ. And both these the Apostle has made known, for he said:The body is buried in animal wise, and rises again in spiritual wise . The Spirit goes back againto Christ according to its nature, for the Apostle said again: When we shall depart from the body








we shall be with our Lord . For the Spirit of Christ, which the spiritual receive, goes to our Lord.And the animal spirit is buried in its nature, and sense is taken away from it. Whosoever guardsthe Spirit of Christ in purity, when it returns to Christ it thus addresses him: “The body intowhich I went, and which put me on from the water of the baptism, has kept me in holiness.” Andthe Holy Spirit will be earnest with Christ for the resurrection of that body which kept Him with

purity, and the Spirit will request to be again conjoined to it that that body may rise up in glory.And whatever man there is that receives the Spirit from the water (of baptism) and grieves it, itdeparts from him until he dies, and returns according to its nature to Christ, and accuses that manof having grieved it.

Notice that according to Aphraates, we receive the Spirit in baptism.

St. Hilary of Poitiers (d. 368). In Book I of his work titled On the Trinity , St. Hilary writes:

My soul judged of Him as One Who, drawing us upward to partake of His own Divine nature,has loosened henceforth the bond of bodily observances Who, unlike the Symbolic Law, has

initiated us into no rites of mutilating the flesh, but Whose purpose is that our spirit, circumcisedfrom vice, should purify all the natural faculties of the body by abstinence from sin, that webeing buried with His Death in Baptism may return to the life of eternity (since regeneration tolife is death to the former life), and dying to our sins be born again to immortality, that even asHe abandoned His immortality to die for us, so should we awaken from death to immortalitywith Him. ( On the Trinity , Bk I)

In Book VIII of this same work he writes:

Again I ask, is the faith one or is there a second faith? One undoubtedly, and that on the authorityof the Apostle himself, who proclaims one faith even as one Lord, and one baptism, and one

hope, and one God. ( Ephesians 4:4-5 ) If then it is through faith, that is, through the nature of onefaith, that all are one, how is it that thou dost not understand a natural unity in the case of thosewho through the nature of one faith are one? For all were born again to innocence, toimmortality, to the knowledge of God, to the faith of hope. And if these things cannot differwithin themselves because there is both one hope and one God, as also there is one Lord and onebaptism of regeneration; if these things are one rather by agreement than by nature, ascribe aunity of will to those also who have been born again into them. If, however, they have beenbegotten again into the nature of one life and eternity, then, inasmuch as their soul and heart areone, the unity of will fails to account for their case who are one by regeneration into the samenature. ( On the Trinity , Bk VIII)

In Book IX of this same work he writes:

We are circumcised not with a fleshly circumcision but with the circumcision of Christ, that is,we are born again into a new man; for, being buried with Him in His baptism, we must die to theold man, because the regeneration of baptism has the force of resurrection. ( On the Trinity , Bk IX)

In Book XII of this same work he writes:








Keep, I pray You, this my pious faith undefiled, and even till my spirit departs, grant that thismay be the utterance of my convictions: so that I may ever hold fast that which I professed in thecreed of my regeneration, when I was baptized in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.(On the Trinity , Bk 12)

St. Ephraim of Syria (306 – 373). In his Homily on our Lord , St. Ephraim writes:

Therefore, because the Spirit was with the Son, He came to John to receive from him baptism,that He might mingle with the visible waters the invisible Spirit; that they whose bodies shouldfeel the moistening of the water, their souls should feel the gift of the Spirit; that even as thebodies outwardly feel the pouring of the water upon them, so the souls inwardly may feel thepouring of the Spirit upon them. ( Homily on our Lord )

Next consider St. Cyril (315-386), bishop of Jerusalem. In the Prologue to his Catechetical Lectures (i.e. lectures to Catechumens) he writes to the Catechumens:

Great is the Baptism that lies before you: a ransom to captives; a remission of offenses; a deathof sin; a new-birth of the soul; a garment of light; a holy indissoluble seal; a chariot to heaven;the delight of Paradise; a welcome into the kingdom; the gift of adoption!

In his third Catechetical Lecture , he writes the following to the Catechumens:

Regard not the Laver as simple water, but rather regard the spiritual grace that is given with thewater. For just as the offerings brought to the heathen altars, though simple in their nature,become defiled by the invocation of the idols, so contrariwise the simple water having receivedthe invocation of the Holy Ghost, and of Christ, and of the Father, acquires a new power of holiness. For since man is of twofold nature, soul and body, the purification also is twofold, the

one incorporeal for the incorporeal part, and the other bodily for the body: the water cleanses thebody, and the Spirit seals the soul; that we may draw near unto God, having our heart sprinkled by the Spirit, and our body washed with pure water . When going down, therefore, into the water,think not of the bare element, but look for salvation by the power of the Holy Ghost: for withoutboth you can not possibly be made perfect. It is not I that say this, but the Lord Jesus Christ, whohas the power in this matter: for He says, Except a man be born anew (and He adds the words) of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God . Neither does he that is baptizedwith water, but not found worthy of the Spirit, receive the grace in perfection; nor if a man bevirtuous in his deeds, but receive not the seal by water, shall he enter into the kingdom of heaven. A bold saying, but not mine, for it is Jesus who has declared it: and here is the proof of the statement from Holy Scripture. Cornelius was a just man, who was honoured with a vision of Angels, and had set up his prayers and alms-deeds as a good memorial before God in heaven.Peter came, and the Spirit was poured out upon them that believed, and they spoke with othertongues, and prophesied: and after the grace of the Spirit the Scripture says that Petercommanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ ; in order that, the soul having beenborn again by faith, the body also might by the water partake of the grace. (sections 3-4)

If any man receive not Baptism, he has no salvation; except only Martyrs, who even without thewater receive the kingdom. (section 10)








For you go down into the water, bearing your sins, but the invocation of grace, having sealedyour soul, suffers you not afterwards to be swallowed up by the terrible dragon. Having gonedown dead in sins, you come up quickened in righteousness. For if you have been united with thelikeness of the Saviour’s death , you shall also be deemed worthy of His Resurrection. For asJesus took upon Him the sins of the world, and died, that by putting sin to death He might rise

again in righteousness; so thou by going down into the water, and being in a manner buried inthe waters, as He was in the rock, art raised again walking in newness of life . (section 12)

In Lecture 18 , he writes to the Catechumens, who are approaching the day of their baptism (i.e.the Easter vigil):

But now the holy day of the Passover is at hand, and you, beloved in Christ, are to be enlightenedby the Laver of regeneration. You shall therefore again be taught what is requisite, if God sowill; with how great devotion and order you must enter in when summoned, for what purposeeach of the holy mysteries of Baptism is performed, and with what reverence and order you mustgo from Baptism to the Holy Altar of God, and enjoy its spiritual and heavenly mysteries; that

your souls being previously enlightened by the word of doctrine, you may discover in eachparticular the greatness of the gifts bestowed on you by God. ( Lecture 18 )

In his Lecture 19 , the first lecture given to the newly baptized believers in the time of mystatogy(i.e. between Easter and Pentecost), St. Cyril begins to explain to the new Catholics whathappened to them at their baptism. He writes:

I have long been wishing, O true-born and dearly beloved children of the Church, to discourse toyou concerning these spiritual and heavenly Mysteries; but since I well knew that seeing is farmore persuasive than hearing, I waited for the present season; that finding you more open to theinfluence of my words from your present experience, I might lead you by the hand into the

brighter and more fragrant meadow of the Paradise before us; especially as you have been madefit to receive the more sacred Mysteries, after having been found worthy of divine and life-givingBaptism. Since therefore it remains to set before you a table of the more perfect instructions, letus now teach you these things exactly, that you may know the effect wrought upon you on thatevening of your baptism. … For our adversary the devil, as was just now read, as a roaring lion,walks about, seeking whom he may devour. ( 1 Peter 5:9 ) But though in former times death wasmighty and devoured, at the holy Laver of regeneration God has wiped away every tear from off all faces. For you shall no more mourn, now that you have put off the old man; but you shallkeep holy-day, clothed in the garment of salvation ( Isaiah 61:10 ), even Jesus Christ.

He continues to explain the significance of the exorcism and vows that take place immediatelyprior to baptism. Then, in Lecture 20 , he writes:

After these things, you were led to the holy pool of Divine Baptism, as Christ was carried fromthe Cross to the Sepulchre which is before our eyes. And each of you was asked, whether hebelieved in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and you made thatsaving confession, and descended three times into the water, and ascended again; here alsohinting by a symbol at the three days burial of Christ. For as our Saviour passed three days andthree nights in the heart of the earth, so you also in your first ascent out of the water, represented








the first day of Christ in the earth, and by your descent, the night; for as he who is in the night,no longer sees, but he who is in the day, remains in the light, so in the descent, as in the night,you saw nothing, but in ascending again you were as in the day. And at the self-same momentyou were both dying and being born; and that Water of salvation was at once your grave andyour mother. And what Solomon spoke of others will suit you also; for he said, in that case,

There is a time to bear and a time to die ( Ecclesiastes 3:2 ); but to you, in the reverse order, therewas a time to die and a time to be born; and one and the same time effected both of these, andyour birth went hand in hand with your death.

Next consider St. Basil the Great (329-379). In the tenth chapter of his De Spiritu Sancto (Onthe Holy Spirit) he writes:

Whence is it that we are Christians? Through our faith, would be the universal answer. And inwhat way are we saved? Plainly because we were regenerate through the grace given in ourbaptism. How else could we be? And after recognising that this salvation is established throughthe Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, shall we fling away “that form of doctrine” ( Romans

6:17 ) which we received? Would it not rather be ground for great groaning if we are found nowfurther off from our salvation “than when we first believed,” and deny now what we thenreceived? …. For if to me my baptism was the beginning of life, and that day of regeneration thefirst of days, it is plain that the utterance uttered in the grace of adoption was the mosthonourable of all. Can I then, perverted by these men’s seductive words, abandon the traditionwhich guided me to the light, which bestowed on me the boon of the knowledge of God,whereby I, so long a foe by reason of sin, was made a child of God? But, for myself, I pray thatwith this confession I may depart hence to the Lord, and them I charge to preserve the faithsecure until the day of Christ, and to keep the Spirit undivided from the Father and the Son,preserving, both in the confession of faith and in the doxology, the doctrine taught them at theirbaptism. (Chapter 10)

In the fifteenth chapter of this same work he writes:

For perfection of life the imitation of Christ is necessary, not only in the example of gentleness,lowliness, and long suffering set us in His life, but also of His actual death. So Paul, the imitatorof Christ, says, “being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto theresurrection of the dead.” How then are we made in the likeness of His death? In that we wereburied with Him by baptism. What then is the manner of the burial? And what is the advantageresulting from the imitation? First of all, it is necessary that the continuity of the old life be cut.And this is impossible less a man be born again, according to the Lord’s word; for theregeneration, as indeed the name shows, is a beginning of a second life. So before beginning thesecond, it is necessary to put an end to the first. For just as in the case of runners who turn andtake the second course, a kind of halt and pause intervenes between the movements in theopposite direction, so also in making a change in lives it seemed necessary for death to come asmediator between the two, ending all that goes before, and beginning all that comes after. Howthen do we achieve the descent into hell? By imitating, through baptism, the burial of Christ. Forthe bodies of the baptized are, as it were, buried in the water. Baptism then symbolically signifiesthe putting off of the works of the flesh; as the apostle says, you were “circumcised with thecircumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the








circumcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism.” And there is, as it were, a cleansing of thesoul from the filth that has grown on it from the carnal mind, as it is written, “You shall washme, and I shall be whiter than snow.” On this account we do not, as is the fashion of the Jews,wash ourselves at each defilement, but own the baptism of salvation to be one. For there thedeath on behalf of the world is one, and one the resurrection of the dead, whereof baptism is a

type. For this cause the Lord, who is the Dispenser of our life, gave us the covenant of baptism,containing a type of life and death, for the water fulfils the image of death, and the Spirit gives usthe earnest of life. Hence it follows that the answer to our question why the water was associatedwith the Spirit is clear: the reason is because in baptism two ends were proposed; on the onehand, the destroying of the body of sin, that it may never bear fruit unto death; on the other hand,our living unto the Spirit, and having our fruit in holiness; the water receiving the body as in atomb figures death, while the Spirit pours in the quickening power, renewing our souls from thedeadness of sin unto their original life. This then is what it is to be born again of water and of theSpirit, the being made dead being effected in the water, while our life is wrought in us throughthe Spirit. In three immersions, then, and with three invocations, the great mystery of baptism isperformed, to the end that the type of death may be fully figured, and that by the tradition of the

divine knowledge the baptized may have their souls enlightened. It follows that if there is anygrace in the water, it is not of the nature of the water, but of the presence of the Spirit. (Chapter15)

St. Gregory of Nazianzus (325-389). In his eighteenth Oration , St. Gregory of Nazianzusdescribes his own father’s baptism:

After a short interval, wonder succeeded wonder. I will commend the account of it to the ears of the faithful, for to profane minds nothing that is good is trustworthy. He was approaching thatregeneration by water and the Spirit, by which we confess to God the formation and completionof the Christlike man, and the transformation and reformation from the earthy to the Spirit. Hewas approaching the laver with warm desire and bright hope, after all the purgation possible, anda far greater purification of soul and body than that of the men who were to receive the tablesfrom Moses. Their purification extended only to their dress, and a slight restriction of the belly,and a temporary continence. The whole of his past life had been a preparation for theenlightenment, and a preliminary purification making sure the gift, in order that perfection mightbe entrusted to purity, and that the blessing might incur no risk in a soul which was confident inits possession of the grace. ( Oration 18 )

In his thirty-fourth Oration , he writes:

For my part I revere also the Titles of the Word, which are so many, and so high and great,which even the demons respect. And I revere also the Equal Rank of the Holy Ghost; and I fearthe threat pronounced against those who blaspheme Him. And blasphemy is not the reckoningHim God, but the severing Him from the Godhead. And here you must remark that That which isblasphemed is Lord, and That which is avenged is the Holy Ghost, evidently as Lord. I cannotbear to be unenlightened after my Enlightenment, by marking with a different stamp any of theThree into Whom I was baptized; and thus to be indeed buried in the water, and initiated not intoRegeneration, but into death. ( Oration 34)








In his fortieth Oration , he writes:

And as Christ the Giver of it is called by many various names, so too is this Gift, whether it isfrom the exceeding gladness of its nature (as those who are very fond of a thing take pleasure inusing its name), or that the great variety of its benefits has reacted for us upon its names. We call

it, the Gift, the Grace, Baptism, Unction, Illumination, the Clothing of Immortality, the Laver of Regeneration, the Seal, and everything that is honourable. We call it the Gift, because it is givento us in return for nothing on our part; Grace, because it is conferred even on debtors; Baptism,because sin is buried with it in the water; Unction, as Priestly and Royal, for such were they whowere anointed; Illumination, because of its splendour; Clothing, because it hides our shame; theLaver, because it washes us; the Seal because it preserves us, and is moreover the indication of Dominion. In it the heavens rejoice; it is glorified by Angels, because of its kindred splendour. Itis the image of the heavenly bliss. We long indeed to sing out its praises, but we cannot worthilydo so. ( Oration 40 )

Next consider St. Gregory of Nyssa (c 335 – after 394), in his work titled “ On the Baptism of

Christ ,” wherein he writes:

I for my part rejoice over both—over you that are initiated, because you are enriched with a greatgift: over you that are uninitiated, because you have a fair expectation of hope— remission of what is to be accounted for, release from bondage, close relation to God, free boldness of speech,and in place of servile subjection equality with the angels. For these things, and all that followfrom them, the grace of Baptism secures and conveys to us. …

But Christ, the repairer of his evil-doing, assumes manhood in its fullness, and saves man, andbecomes the type and figure of us all, to sanctify the first-fruits of every action, and leave to Hisservants no doubt in their zeal for the tradition. Baptism, then, is a purification from sins, a

remission of trespasses, a cause of renovation and regeneration. By regeneration, understandregeneration conceived in thought, not discerned by bodily sight. For we shall not, according tothe Jew Nicodemus and his somewhat dull intelligence, change the old man into a child, nor shallwe form anew him who is wrinkled and gray-headed to tenderness and youth, if we bring back the man again into his mother’s womb: but we do bring back, by royal grace, him who bears thescars of sin, and has grown old in evil habits, to the innocence of the babe. For as the child new-born is free from accusations and from penalties, so too the child of regeneration has nothing forwhich to answer, being released by royal bounty from accountability. And this gift it is not thewater that bestows (for in that case it were a thing more exalted than all creation), but thecommand of God, and the visitation of the Spirit that comes sacramentally to set us free. Butwater serves to express the cleansing. For since we are wont by washing in water to render ourbody clean when it is soiled by dirt or mud, we therefore apply it also in the sacramental action,and display the spiritual brightness by that which is subject to our senses.

Let us however, if it seems well, persevere in enquiring more fully and more minutelyconcerning Baptism, starting, as from the fountain-head, from the Scriptural declaration, “Unlessa man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ” Why areboth named, and why is not the Spirit alone accounted sufficient for the completion of Baptism?Man, as we know full well, is compound, not simple: and therefore the cognate and similar








medicines are assigned for healing to him who is twofold and conglomerate:— for his visiblebody, water, the sensible element—for his soul, which we cannot see, the Spirit invisible,invoked by faith, present unspeakably. For “the Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear Hisvoice, but canst not tell whence He comes or whither He goes.” He blesses the body that isbaptized, and the water that baptizes. Despise not, therefore, the Divine laver, nor think lightly of

it, as a common thing, on account of the use of water. For the power that operates is mighty, andwonderful are the things that are wrought thereby. For this holy altar, too, by which I stand, isstone, ordinary in its nature, nowise different from the other slabs of stone that build our housesand adorn our pavements; but seeing that it was consecrated to the service of God, and receivedthe benediction, it is a holy table, an altar undefiled, no longer touched by the hands of all, but of the priests alone, and that with reverence. The bread again is at first common bread, but when thesacramental action consecrates it, it is called, and becomes, the Body of Christ. So with thesacramental oil; so with the wine: though before the benediction they are of little value, each of them, after the sanctification bestowed by the Spirit, has its several operation. The same power of the word, again, also makes the priest venerable and honourable, separated, by the new blessingbestowed upon him, from his community with the mass of men. While but yesterday he was one

of the mass, one of the people, he is suddenly rendered a guide, a president, a teacher of righteousness, an instructor in hidden mysteries; and this he does without being at all changed inbody or in form; but, while continuing to be in all appearance the man he was before, being, bysome unseen power and grace, transformed in respect of his unseen soul to the higher condition.

And so there are many things, which if you consider you will see that their appearance iscontemptible, but the things they accomplish are mighty: and this is especially the case when youcollect from the ancient history instances cognate and similar to the subject of our inquiry. Therod of Moses was a hazel wand. And what is that, but common wood that every hand cuts andcarries, and fashions to what use it chooses, and casts as it will into the fire? But when God waspleased to accomplish by that rod those wonders, lofty, and passing the power of language toexpress, the wood was changed into a serpent. And again, at another time, he smote the waters,and now made the water blood, now made to issue forth a countless brood of frogs: and again hedivided the sea, severed to its depths without flowing together again. Likewise the mantle of oneof the prophets, though it was but a goat’s skin, made Elisha renowned in the whole world. Andthe wood of the Cross is of saving efficacy for all men, though it is, as I am informed, a piece of a poor tree, less valuable than most trees are. So a bramble bush showed to Moses themanifestation of the presence of God: so the remains of Elisha raised a dead man to life; so claygave sight to him that was blind from the womb. And all these things, though they were matterwithout soul or sense, were made the means for the performance of the great marvels wrought bythem, when they received the power of God. Now by a similar train of reasoning, water also,though it is nothing else than water, renews the man to spiritual regeneration, when the gracefrom above hallows it. And if any one answers me again by raising a difficulty, with hisquestions and doubts, continually asking and inquiring how water and the sacramental act that isperformed therein regenerate, I most justly reply to him, “Show me the mode of that generationwhich is after the flesh, and I will explain to you the power of regeneration in the soul.” ( On the

Baptism of Christ )

Later in this work, St. Gregory of Nyssa goes into a survey of the Old Testament types of baptism. He writes:








But when we are aware of his attacks, we ought to repeat to ourselves the apostolic words, “Asmany of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death ( Romans 6:3 ).” Now if wehave been conformed to His death, sin henceforth in us is surely a corpse, pierced through by the

javelin of Baptism, as that fornicator was thrust through by the zealous Phinehas.

In his “ Great Catechism ,” he writes:

The saving nature of Baptism depends on three things; Prayer, Water, and Faith. 1. It is shownhow Prayer secures the Divine Presence. God is a God of truth; and He has promised to come (asMiracles prove that He has come already) if invoked in a particular way. 2. It is shown how theDeity gives life from water. In human generation, even without prayer, He gives life from asmall beginning. In a higher generation He transforms matter, not into soul, but into spirit. 3.Human freedom, as evinced in faith and repentance, is also necessary to Regeneration. Beingthrice dipped in the water is our earliest mortification; coming out of it is a forecast of the easewith which the pure shall rise in a blessed resurrection: the whole process is an imitation of Christ. ( The Great Catechism )

[W]hen, I say, they have heard this and the like from us, and are besides instructed as to theprocess—namely that it is prayer and the invocation of heavenly grace, and water, and faith, bywhich the mystery of regeneration is accomplished—they still remain incredulous and have aneye only for the outward and visible, as if that which is operated corporeally concurred not withthe fulfilment of God’s promise. How, they ask, can prayer and the invocation of Divine powerover the water be the foundation of life in those who have been thus initiated? ( The Great Catechism, part III [The Sacraments])

In his work titled “ Against Eunomius ,” he writes:

[T]o speak briefly, as there are in us three births, whereby human nature is quickened, one of thebody, another in the sacrament of regeneration, another by that resurrection of the dead for whichwe look …. ( Against Eunomius , Bk IV)

In his second Letter , he writes:

Since, then, in the case of those who are regenerate from death to eternal life, it is through theHoly Trinity that the life-giving power is bestowed on those who with faith are deemed worthyof the grace, and in like manner the grace is imperfect, if any one, whichever it be, of the namesof the Holy Trinity be omitted in the saving baptism— for the sacrament of regeneration is notcompleted in the Son and the Father alone without the Spirit: nor is the perfect boon of life

imparted to Baptism in the Father and the Spirit, if the name of the Son be suppressed: nor is thegrace of that Resurrection accomplished in the Father and the Son, if the Spirit be left out: — forthis reason we rest all our hope, and the persuasion of the salvation of our souls, upon the threePersons, recognized by these names …. ( Letter 2 )

Next consider St. Pacian (d. 391), bishop of Barcelona. In his sermon on Baptism , he writes:








Thus Christ continues in the Church through his priests, as the same Apostles says: In Christ, I have begotten you . And so, the seed of Christ, that is, the Spirit of God, brings forth the newman, nourished in the womb of his mother, welcomed at his birth at the font through the hands of the priests, while faith presides over the ceremony. Christ must, therefore, be received in order tobeget, for the apostles John says: To all who received him he gave the power to become sons of

God . But these things cannot be accomplished except by the sacrament of the font, the chrismand the priest. For sin is washed away by the waters of the font; the Holy Spirit is poured forth inthe chrism; and we obtain both of these gifts through the hands and the mouth of the priest. Thusthe whole man is reborn and renewed in Christ. … And so when we come to the sign of the Lordin the sacrament of baptism we are freed of these chains and liberated by the blood of Christ andby his name. Therefore, beloved, we are washed clean but once; we are freed only once; we arereceived into the immortal kingdom once and for all. Once and for all are they happy whose sinsare forgiven and whose stains are blotted out. Hold fast to what you have received; preserve it

joyfully; sin no more. Keep yourselves as children cleansed by that sacrament and made spotlessfor the day of the Lord.

At this point we should not overlook the significance of the line in the Nicene Creed : “weacknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” This line was added at the Council of Constantinople in AD 381. When we see what the Fathers who were either contemporaneouswith the Council or who attended the Council wrote about baptism, it shows that this line in theCreed means exactly what it says: our sins are forgiven in baptism.

Next consider St. Ambrose (340-397), bishop of Milan. In Book 1, chapter 8, of his work “ On Repentance ,” he writes to the Novatians (schismatics):

Why do you baptize if sins cannot be remitted by man? If baptism is certainly the remission of all sins, what difference does it make whether claim that this power is given to them in penance

or at the font? In each the mystery is one.The Novatians believed with the Catholics that baptism is the remission of all sins. But theNovatians denied that the priests had the authority to forgive sins in the sacrament of penance/reconciliation. In the second chapter of Book II of his “ On Repentance ,” St. Ambrosewrites:

And that the writer [of Hebrews 6:4 ] was speaking of baptism is evident from the very words inwhich it is stated that it is impossible to renew unto repentance those who were fallen, inasmuchas we are renewed by means of the laver of baptism, whereby we are born again …. as we beingdead in sin are through the Sacrament of Baptism born again to God, and created anew. … This,too, is plain, that in him who is baptized the Son of God is crucified, for our flesh could not doaway sin unless it were crucified in Jesus Christ. And then it is written that: “All we who werebaptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death.” And farther on: “If we have beenplanted in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowingthat our old man was fastened with Him to His cross.” And to the Colossians he says: “Buriedwith Him by baptism, wherein ye also rose again with Him.” … And indeed I might also say toany one who thought that this passage spoke of repentance, that things which are impossible withmen are possible with God; and God is able whensoever He wills to forgive us our sins, even








those which we think cannot be forgiven. And so it is possible for God to give us that which itseems to us impossible to obtain. For it seemed impossible that water should wash away sin, andNaaman the Syrian thought that his leprosy could not be cleansed by water. But that which wasimpossible God made to be possible, Who gave us so great grace.

Here St. Ambrose shows clearly that we are regenerated through baptism, and that are sins arewashed away by the water of baptism. In his work “ On the Mysteries ,” he writes:

The water, then, is that in which the flesh is dipped, that all carnal sin may be washed away. Allwickedness is there buried. … For what else are we daily taught in this sacrament but that guilt isswallowed up and error done away …. For water without the preaching of the Cross of the Lordis of no avail for future salvation, but, after it has been consecrated by the mystery of the savingcross, it is made suitable for the use of the spiritual laver and of the cup of salvation. As, then,Moses, that is, the prophet, cast wood into that fountain, so, too, the priest utters over this fontthe proclamation of the Lord’s cross, and the water is made sweet for the purpose of grace.”(chapter 3)

“That water does not cleanse without the Spirit is shown by the witness of John and by the veryform of the administration of the sacrament. … Therefore read that the three witnesses inbaptism, the water, the blood, and the Spirit, are one, for if you take away one of these, theSacrament of Baptism does not exist. For what is water without the cross of Christ? A commonelement, without any sacramental effect. Nor, again, is there the Sacrament of Regenerationwithout water: “For except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter intothe kingdom of God.” Now, even the catechumen believes in the cross of the Lord Jesus,wherewith he too is signed; but unless he be baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son,and of the Holy Spirit, he cannot receive remission of sins nor gain the gift of spiritual grace.”(chapter 4)

After this white robes were given to you as a sign that you were putting off the covering of sins,and putting on the chaste veil of innocence, of which the prophet said: “You shall sprinkle mewith hyssop and I shall be cleansed, You shall wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow.”For he who is baptized is seen to be purified both according to the Law and according to theGospel: according to the Law, because Moses sprinkled the blood of the lamb with a bunch of hyssop; ( Exodus 12:22 ) according to the Gospel, because Christ’s garments were white as snow,when in the Gospel He showed forth the glory of His Resurrection. He, then, whose guilt isremitted is made whiter than snow. So that God said by Isaiah: “Though your sins be as scarlet, Iwill make them white as snow.” ( Isaiah 1:18 ) (Chapter 7)

The Church, having put on these garments through the laver of regeneration, says in the Song of Songs: “I am black and comely, O daughters of Jerusalem.” (Song of Songs 1:4) Black throughthe frailty of her human condition, comely through the sacrament of faith. And the daughters of Jerusalem beholding these garments say in amazement: “Who is this that comes up made white?”(Song of Songs 8:5) She was black, how is she now suddenly made white? … But Christ,beholding His Church, for whom He Himself, as you find in the book of the prophet Zechariah,had put on filthy garments, now clothed in white raiment, seeing, that is, a soul pure and washedin the laver of regeneration, says: “Behold, you are fair, My love, behold you are fair, your eyes








are like a dove’s,” Song of Songs 4:1 in the likeness of which the Holy Spirit descended fromheaven. (Chapter 7)

In Book III of his work “ On the Holy Spirit ,” St. Ambrose writes:

Nicodemus enquires about regeneration, and the Lord replies: “Verily, verily, I say unto you,except a man be born again by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”(John 3:5 ) And that He might show that there is one birth according to the flesh, and anotheraccording to the Spirit, He added: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, because it is born of the flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, because the Spirit is God.” Follow out thewhole course of the passage, and you will find that God has shut out your impiety by the fullnessof His statement: “Marvel not,” says He, “that I said, You must be born again. The Spiritbreathes where He lists, and you hear His voice, but know not whence He comes or whither Hegoes, so is every one who is born of the Spirit.” ( John 3:7-8 )

Who is he who is born of the Spirit, and is made Spirit, but he who is renewed in the Spirit of his

mind? ( Ephesians 4:23 ) This certainly is he who is regenerated by water and the Holy Spirit,since we receive the hope of eternal life through the laver of regeneration and renewing of theHoly Spirit. ( Titus 3:5 ) And elsewhere the Apostle Peter says: “You shall be baptized with theHoly Spirit.” ( Acts 11:16 ) For who is he that is baptized with the Holy Spirit but he who is bornagain through water and the Holy Spirit? Therefore the Lord said of the Holy Spirit, Verily,verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter intothe kingdom of God. (Bk III)

In his “ Letters ,” St. Ambrose writes:

Who is a God like you, who takes away iniquity and passes by wickedness?’ (Mic. 7:18) You

have not been mindful of Your wrath, but have cast all our iniquities into the sea, like Egyptianlead”. ( Letters , No. 70)

According to St. Ambrose, the phrase “cast our iniquities into the sea” refers to baptism.

St. John Chrysostom (347-407), bishop of Constantinople, wrote a work titled “ Instructions toCatechumens ,” in which he writes:

But I see that our discourse now constrains us to something more necessary to say what baptismis, and for what reason it enters into our life, and what good things it conveys to us.

But, if you will, let us discourse about the name which this mystic cleansing bears: for its nameis not one, but very many and various. For this purification is called the laver of regeneration.“He saved us,” he says, “through the laver of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”(Titus 3:5 ) It is called also illumination, and this St. Paul again has called it, “For call toremembrance the former days in which after you were illuminated ye endured a great conflict of sufferings;” ( Hebrews 10:32 ) and again, “For it is impossible for those who were onceilluminated, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and then fell away, to renew them again untorepentance.” ( Hebrews 6:4 -6) It is called also, baptism: “For as many of you as were baptized








into Christ did put on Christ.” ( Galatians 3:27 ) It is called also burial: “For we were buried” sayshe, “with him, through baptism, into death.” ( Romans 6:4 ) It is called circumcision: “In whomyou were also circumcised, with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of thebody of the sins of the flesh.” ( Galatians 2:11 ) It is called a cross: “Our old man was crucifiedwith him that the body of sin might be done away.” ( Romans 6:6 ) It is also possible to speak of

other names besides these, but in order that we should not spend our whole time over the namesof this free gift, come, return to the first name, and let us finish our discourse by declaring itsmeaning; but in the meantime, let us extend our teaching a little further. There is that laver bymeans of the baths, common to all men, which is wont to wipe off bodily uncleanness; and thereis the Jewish laver, more honorable than the other, but far inferior to that of grace; and it toowipes off bodily uncleanness but not simply uncleanness of body, since it even reaches to theweak conscience. For there are many matters, which by nature indeed are not unclean, but whichbecome unclean from the weakness of the conscience. And as in the case of little children,masks, and other bugbears are not in themselves alarming, but seem to little children to bealarming, by reason of the weakness of their nature, so it is in the case of those things of which Iwas speaking; just as to touch dead bodies is not naturally unclean, but when this comes into

contact with a weak conscience, it makes him who touches them unclean. For that the thing inquestion is not unclean naturally, Moses himself who ordained this law showed, when he boreoff the entire corpse of Joseph, and yet remained clean. On this account Paul also, discoursing tous about this uncleanness which does not come naturally but by reason of the weakness of theconscience, speaks somewhat in this way, “Nothing is common of itself save to him whoaccounts anything to be common.” ( Romans 14:14 ) Do you not see that uncleanness does notarise from the nature of the thing, but from the weakness of the reasoning about it? And again:“All things indeed are clean, howbeit it is evil to that man who eats with offense.” ( Romans14:20 ) Do you see that it is not to eat, but to eat with offense, that is the cause of uncleanness?

Such is the defilement from which the laver of the Jews cleansed. But the laver of grace, notsuch, but the real uncleanness which has introduced defilement into the soul as well as into thebody. For it does not make those who have touched dead bodies clean, but those who have settheir hand to dead works: and if any man be effeminate, or a fornicator, or an idolator, or a doerof whatever ill you please, or if he be full of all the wickedness there is among men: should hefall into this pool of waters, he comes up again from the divine fountain purer than the sun’srays. And in order that you may not think that what is said is mere vain boasting, hear Paulspeaking of the power of the laver, “Be not deceived: neither idolators, nor fornicators, noradulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor covetous, not drunkards, notrevilers, not extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.” ( 1 Corinthians 6:9 -10) And what hasthis to do with what has been spoken? Says one, “for prove the question whether the power of the laver thoroughly cleanses all these things.” Hear therefore what follows: “And such weresome of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the nameof the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the spirit of our God.” We promise to show you that they whoapproach the laver become clean from all fornication: but the word has shown more, that theyhave become not only clean, but both holy and just, for it does not say only “you were washed,”but also “you were sanctified and were justified.” What could be more strange than this, whenwithout toil, and exertion, and good works, righteousness is produced? For such is thelovingkindness of the Divine gift that it makes men just without this exertion. For if a letter of the Emperor, a few words being added, sets free those who are liable to countless accusations,








and brings others to the highest honors; much rather will the Holy Spirit of God, who is able todo all things, free us from all evil and grant us much righteousness, and fill us with muchassurance, and as a spark falling into the wide sea would straightway be quenched, or wouldbecome invisible, being overwhelmed by the multitude of the waters, so also all humanwickedness, when it falls into the pool of the divine fountain, is more swiftly and easily

overwhelmed, and made invisible, than that spark. And for what reason, says one, if the lavertake away all our sins, is it called, not a laver of remission of sins, nor a laver of cleansing, but alaver of regeneration? Because it does not simply take away our sins, nor simply cleanse us fromour faults, but so as if we were born again. For it creates and fashions us anew not forming usagain out of earth, but creating us out of another element, namely, of the nature of water. For itdoes not simply wipe the vessel clean, but entirely remoulds it again. For that which is wipedclean, even if it be cleaned with care, has traces of its former condition, and bears the remains of its defilement, but that which falls into the new mould, and is renewed by means of the flames,laying aside all uncleanness, comes forth from the furnace, and sends forth the same brilliancywith things newly formed. As therefore any one who takes and recasts a golden statue which hasbeen tarnished by time, smoke, dust, rust, restores it to us thoroughly cleansed and glistening: so

too this nature of ours, rusted with the rust of sin, and having gathered much smoke from ourfaults, and having lost its beauty, which He had from the beginning bestowed upon it fromhimself, God has taken and cast anew, and throwing it into the waters as into a mould, andinstead of fire sending forth the grace of the Spirit, then brings us forth with much brightness,renewed, and made afresh, to rival the beams of the sun, having crushed the old man, and havingfashioned a new man, more brilliant than the former.

And speaking darkly of this crushing, and this mystic cleansing, the prophet of old said, “Youshall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” For that the word is in reference to the faithful,what goes before sufficiently shows us, “For you are my Son,” he says, “today have I begottenyou, ask of me and I will give the heathen for three inheritance, the utmost parts of the earth foryour possession.” Do you see how he has made mention of the church of the Gentiles, and hasspoken of the kingdom of Christ extended on all sides? Then he says again, “You shall rule themwith a rod of iron;” not grievous, but strong: “you shall break them in pieces like a potter’svessel.” Behold then, the laver is more mystically brought forward. For he does not say earthenvessels: but vessels of the potter. But, give heed: For earthen vessels when crushed would notadmit of refashioning, on account of the hardness which was gained by them from the fire. Butthe fact is that the vessels of the potter are not earthen, but of clay; wherefore, also, when theyhave been distorted, they can easily, by the skill of the artificer, be brought again to a secondshape. When, therefore, God speaks of an irremediable calamity, he does not say vessels of thepotter, but an earthen vessel; when, for instance, he wished to teach the prophet and the Jews thathe delivered up the city to an irremediable calamity, he bade him take an earthen wine-vessel,and crush it before all the people, and say, “Thus shall this city be destroyed, be broken inpieces.” ( Jeremiah 19:11 ) But when he wishes to hold out good hopes to them, he brings theprophet to a pottery, and does not show him an earthen vessel, but shows him a vessel of clay,which was in the hands of the potter, falling to the ground: and brings him to it saying, “If thispotter has taken up and remodelled his vessel which has fallen, shall I not much rather be able torestore you when you have fallen?” ( Jeremiah 18:6 ) It is possible therefore for God not only torestore those who are made of clay, through the laver of regeneration, but to bring back again totheir original state, on their careful repentance, those who have received the power of the Spirit,








and have lapsed. But this is not the time for you to hear words about repentance, rather may thetime never come for you to fall into the need of these remedies, but may you always remain inpreservation of the beauty and the brightness which you are now about to receive, unsullied. Inorder, then, that you may ever remain thus, come and let us discourse to you a little about yourmanner of life.

In Baptismal Instruction (3:6) he writes:

Although many men think that the only gift [baptism] confers is the remission of sins, we havecounted its honors to the number of ten. It is on this account that we baptize even infants,although they are sinless, that they may be given the further gifts of sanctification, justice, filialadoption, and inheritance, that they may be brothers and members of Christ, and becomedwelling places of the Spirit.

In his Homily 12 on Matthew , St. Chrysostom writes:

“And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and lo! The heavenswere opened unto Him.” ( Matthew 3:16 ) Wherefore were the heavens opened? To inform youthat at your baptism also this is done, God calling you to your country on high, and persuadingyou to have nothing to do with earth. And if you see not, yet never doubt it. For so evermore atthe beginnings of all wonderful and spiritual transactions, sensible visions appear, and such-likesigns, for the sake of them that are somewhat dull in disposition, and who have need of outwardsight, and who cannot at all conceive an incorporeal nature, but are excited only by the thingsthat are seen: that so, though afterward no such thing occur, what has been declared by themonce for all at the first may be received by your faith. For in the case of the apostles too, therewas a “sound of a mighty wind,” ( Acts 2:2 ) and visions of fiery tongues appeared, but not for theapostles’ sake, but because of the Jews who were then present. Nevertheless, even though no

sensible signs take place, we receive the things that have been once manifested by them. Sincethe dove itself at that time therefore appeared, that as in place of a finger (so to say) it mightpoint out to them that were present, and to John, the Son of God. Not however merely on thisaccount, but to teach you also, that upon you no less at your baptism the Spirit comes. But sincethen we have no need of sensible vision, faith sufficing instead of all. For signs are “not for themthat believe, but for them that believe not.” ( 1 Corinthians 14:22 ) …

On this very account the Jewish baptism ceases, and ours takes its beginning. And what wasdone with regard to the Passover, the same ensues in the baptism also. For as in that case too, Heacting with a view to both, brought the one to an end, but to the other He gave a beginning: sohere, having fulfilled the Jewish baptism, He at the same time opens also the doors of that of theChurch; as on one table then, so in one river now, He had both sketched out the shadow, and nowadds the truth. For this baptism alone has the grace of the Spirit, but that of John was destitute of this gift. ( Homily 12 on Matthew )

In his Homily 19 on Matthew , he writes:

Then forasmuch as it comes to pass that we sin even after the washing of regeneration, He,showing His love to man to be great even in this case, commands us for the remission of our sins








to come unto God who loves man, and thus to say, “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive ourdebtors.” ( Homily 19 on Matthew )

Commenting on John 1:12 , “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become thesons of God,” St. Chrysostom writes:

And as the element of fire, when it meets with ore from the mine, straightway of earth makes itgold, even so and much more Baptism makes those who are washed to be of gold instead of clay;the Spirit at that time falling like fire into our souls, burning up the “image of the earthy” ( 1Corinthians 15:49 ), and producing “the image of the heavenly,” fresh coined, bright andglittering, as from the furnace-mould.

Why then did he say not that “He made them sons of God,” but that “He gave them power tobecome sons of God”? To show that we need much zeal to keep the image of sonship impressedon us at Baptism, all through without spot or soil; and at the same time to show that no one shallbe able to take this power from us, unless we are the first to deprive ourselves of it. For if among

men, those who have received the absolute control of any matters have nearly as much power asthose who gave them the charge; much more shall we, who have obtained such honor from God,be, if we do nothing unworthy of this power, stronger than all; because He who put this honor inour hands is greater and better than all. At the same time too he wishes to show, that not evendoes grace come upon man irrespectively, but upon those who desire and take pains for it. For itlies in the power of these to become (His) children since if they do not themselves first make thechoice, the gift does not come upon them, nor have any effect. ( Homily 10 on the Gospel of

John )

In his Homily 24 on the Gospel of John , St. Chrysostom writes:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”That is, “Unless you are born again and receive the right doctrines, you are wanderingsomewhere outside, and are far from the Kingdom of heaven.” … Now the Jews, if these wordshad been addressed to them, would have derided Him and departed; but Nicodemus shows herealso his desire of instruction. And this is why in many places Christ speaks obscurely, becauseHe wishes to rouse His hearers to ask questions, and to render them more attentive. For thatwhich is said plainly often escapes the hearer, but what is obscure renders him more active andzealous. Now what He says, is something like this: “If you are not born again, if you partake notof the Spirit which is by the washing of Regeneration, you can not have a right opinion of Me,for the opinion which you have is not spiritual, but carnal.” ( Titus 3:5 ) ( Homily 24 on the Gospelof John )

In Homily 25 on the Gospel of John he writes:

The first creation then, that of Adam, was from earth; the next, that of the woman, from his rib;the next, that of Abel, from seed; yet we cannot arrive at the comprehension of any one of these,nor prove the circumstances by argument, though they are of a most earthly nature; how thenshall we be able to give account of the unseen generation by Baptism, which is far more exaltedthan these, or to require arguments for that strange and marvelous Birth? Since even Angels








stand by while that Generation takes place, but they could not tell the manner of that marvelousworking, they stand by only, not performing anything, but beholding what takes place. TheFather, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, works all. Let us then believe the declaration of God; that ismore trustworthy than actual seeing. The sight often is in error, it is impossible that God’s Wordshould fail; let us then believe it; that which called the things that were not into existence may

well be trusted when it speaks of their nature. What then says it? That what is effected is aGeneration. ( Homily 25 on the Gospel of John )

In Homily 27 on the Gospel of John , he writes:

For after having spoken of the very great benefaction that had come to man by Baptism, He[Christ] proceeds to mention another benefaction, which was the cause of this, and not inferior toit; namely, that by the Cross. As also Paul arguing with the Corinthians sets down these benefitstogether, when he says, “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” for these two things most of all declare His unspeakable love, that He both suffered forHis enemies, and that having died for His enemies, He freely gave to them by Baptism entire

remission of their sins. ( Homily 27 on the Gospel of John )

In Homily 28 on the Gospel of John he writes:

[W]hen we had committed many and grievous sins, and had not ceased from youth to extremeold age to defile our souls with ten thousand evil deeds, for none of these sins did He demandfrom us a reckoning, but granted us remission of them by the washing of Regeneration, andfreely gave us Righteousness and Sanctification. ( Homily 28 on the Gospel of John )

Regarding the story of the pool at Bethsada in the fifth chapter of the gospel of John, St.Chrysostom writes:

What manner of cure is this? What mystery does it signify to us? For these things are not writtencarelessly, or without a purpose, but as by a figure and type they show in outline things to come,in order that what was exceedingly strange might not by coming unexpectedly harm among themany the power of faith. What then is it that they show in outline? A Baptism was about to begiven, possessing much power, and the greatest of gifts, a Baptism purging all sins, and makingmen alive instead of dead. These things then are foreshown as in a picture by the pool, and bymany other circumstances. And first is given a water which purges the stains of our bodies, andthose defilements which are not, but seem to be, as those from touching the dead, those fromleprosy, and other similar causes; under the old covenant one may see many things done bywater on this account. However, let us now proceed to the matter in hand.

First then, as I before said, He causes defilements of our bodies, and afterwards infirmities of different kinds, to be done away by water. Because God, desiring to bring us nearer to faith inbaptism, no longer heals defilements only, but diseases also. For those figures which came nearer[in time] to the reality, both as regarded Baptism, and the Passion, and the rest, were plainer thanthe more ancient; and as the guards near the person of the prince are more splendid than thosebefore, so was it with the types. And “an Angel came down and troubled the water,” and enduedit with a healing power, that the Jews might learn that much more could the Lord of Angels heal








the diseases of the soul. Yet as here it was not simply the nature of the water that healed, (forthen this would have always taken place,) but water joined to the operation of the Angel; so inour case, it is not merely the water that works, but when it has received the grace of the Spirit,then it puts away all our sins. ( Homily 36 on the Gospel of John )

In his Homily 1 on the Acts of the Apostles he writes:

But why does Christ say, “You shall be baptized,” when in fact there was no water in the upperroom? Because the more essential part of Baptism is the Spirit, through Whom indeed the waterhas its operation. ( Homily 1 on the Acts of the Apostles )

In his Homily 40 on the Acts of the Apostles he writes:

We have the sum and substance of the good things: through baptism we received remission of sins, sanctification, participation of the Spirit, adoption, eternal life. What would ye more?( Homily 40 on the Acts of the Apostles )

In his Homily 11 on Romans , he writes:

For that our former sins were buried, came of His gift. But the remaining dead to sin afterbaptism must be the work of our own earnestness, however much we find God here also givingus large help. For this is not the only thing Baptism has the power to do, to obliterate our formertransgressions; for it also secures against subsequent ones. As then in the case of the former, yourcontribution was faith that they might be obliterated, so also in those subsequent to this, showforth the change in your aims, that you may not defile yourself again. ( Homily 11 on Romans )

In his Homily 15 on Romans he writes:

“Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified.” Now He justified them by the regeneration of the laver. “And whom He justified, themHe also glorified” by the gift, by the adoption. ( Homily 15 on Romans )

In his Homily 25 on Romans he writes:

Hath He not threatened you? Not come to your aid? not done things even without number foryour salvation’s sake? Gave He you not the laver of Regeneration, and forgave He not all yourformer sins? Hath He not after this forgiveness, and the laver, also given you the succor of repentance if you sin? Hath He not made the way to forgiveness of sins, even after all this, easy

to you? Hear then what He has enjoined: “If you forgive your neighbor, I also will forgive you”(Matthew 6:14 ), He says. ( Homily 25 on Romans )

In his Homily 3 on First Corinthians , he writes:

“I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius.” “Why are you elate at havingbaptized, when I for my part even give thanks that I have not done so!” Thus saying, by a kind of divine art (οἰκονομικῶς) he does away with their swelling pride upon this point; not with the








efficacy of the baptism, (God forbid,) but with the folly of those who were puffed up at havingbeen baptizers: first, by showing that the Gift is not theirs; and, secondly, by thanking Godtherefore. For Baptism truly is a great thing: but its greatness is not the work of the personbaptizing, but of Him who is invoked in the Baptism: since to baptize is nothing as regards man’slabor, but is much less than preaching the Gospel. Yea, again I say, great indeed is Baptism, and

without baptism it is impossible to obtain the kingdom. Still a man of no singular excellence isable to baptize, but to preach the Gospel there is need of great labor. ( Homily 3 on First Corinthians )


But you, too, says one, gave promises pertaining to this life. What then have we promised in thislife? The forgiveness of sins and the laver of regeneration. Now in the first place, baptism itself has its chief part in things to come; and Paul exclaims, saying, Colossians 3:4 “For you died, andyour life is hid with Christ in God: when your life shall be manifested, then shall you also withHim be manifested in glory.” But if in this life also it has advantages, as indeed it has, this also is

more than all a matter of great wonder, that they had power to persuade men who had doneinnumerable evil deeds, yea such as no one else had done, that they should wash themselvesclean of all, and they should give account of none of their offenses. So that on this very accountit were most of all meet to wonder that they persuaded Barbarians to embrace such a faith as this,and to have good hopes concerning things to come; and having thrown off the former burden of their sins, to apply themselves with the greatest zeal for the time to come to those toils whichvirtue requires, and not to gape after any object of sense, but rising to a height above all bodilythings, to receive gifts purely spiritual: yea, that the Persian, the Sarmatian, the Moor, and theIndian should be acquainted with the purification of the soul, and the power of God, and Hisunspeakable mercy to men, and the severe discipline of faith, and the visitation of the HolySpirit, and the resurrection of bodies, and the doctrines of life eternal. For in all these things, andin whatever is more than these, the fishermen, initiating by Baptism various races of Barbarians,

persuaded them (φιλοσοφεῖν) to live on high principles. ( Homily 7 on First Corinthians )


For to forgive sins is possible only with God. But rulers and kings, whether it is adulterers whomthey forgive or homicides, release them indeed from the present punishment; but their sin they donot purge out. Though they should advance to offices them that have been forgiven, though theyshould invest them with the purple itself, though they should set the diadem upon their heads, yetso they would only make them kings, but could not free them from their sin. It being God alonewho does this; which accordingly in the Laver of Regeneration He will bring to pass. For Hisgrace touches the very soul, and thence plucks up the sin by the root. Here is the reason why hethat has been forgiven by the king may be seen with his soul yet impure, but the soul of thebaptized no longer so, but purer than the very sun-beams, and such as it was originally formed,nay rather much better than that. For it is blessed with a Spirit, on every side enkindling it andmaking its holiness intense. And as when you are recasting iron or gold you make it pure andnew once more, just so the Holy Ghost also, recasting the soul in baptism as in a furnace andconsuming its sins, causes it to glisten with more purity than all purest gold. ( Homily 40 on First Corinthians )








In his Homily 2 on Second Corinthians , he writes:

“That He would count them worthy in due season of the regeneration of the laver, of theremission of sins.” For we ask some things to come now, some to come hereafter; and weexpound the doctrine of the laver, and in asking instruct them to know its power. For what is said

thenceforth familiarizes them to know already that what is there done is a regeneration, and thatwe are born again of the waters, just as of the womb; that they say not after Nicodemus, “Howcan one be born when he is old! Can he enter into his mother’s womb, and be born again?”( Homily 2 on Second Corinthians )

In his Homily 1 on Galatians , he writes:

And it is in no indulgent mood towards them that he calls God, “Father,” but by way of severerebuke, and suggestion of the source whence they became sons, for the honor was vouchsafed tothem not through the Law, but through the washing of regeneration. ( Homily 1 on Galatians )

In the third of his Homilies on Philippians , he writes:

Weep for the unbelievers; weep for those who differ in nowise from them, those who departhence without the illumination, without the seal! they indeed deserve our wailing, they deserveour groans; they are outside the Palace, with the culprits, with the condemned: for,”Verily I sayunto you, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”

The seal he refers to is baptism. In his Homily 9 on Hebrews , he writes:

“Impossible.”… if you have once been altogether enlightened, … and have fallen away, to renew

them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and putHim to an open shame.” “Renew them,” he says, “unto repentance,” that is, by repentance, forunto repentance is by repentance. What then, is repentance excluded? Not repentance, far fromit! But the renewing again by the laver. For he did not say, “impossible” to be renewed “untorepentance,” and stop, but added how “impossible, [by] crucifying afresh.” To “be renewed,”that is, to be made new, for to make men new is [the work] of the laver only. ( Homily 9 on

Hebrews )

In his work titled “ On the Priesthood ,” he writes:

For if no one can enter into the kingdom of Heaven except he be regenerate through water and

the Spirit, and he who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink His blood is excluded frometernal life, and if all these things are accomplished only by means of those holy hands, I meanthe hands of the priest, how will any one, without these, be able to escape the fire of hell, or towin those crowns which are reserved for the victorious?

These verily are they who are entrusted with the pangs of spiritual travail and the birth whichcomes through baptism: by their means we put on Christ, and are buried with the Son of God,and become members of that blessed Head. Wherefore they might not only be more justly feared








by us than rulers and kings, but also be more honored than parents; since these begot us of bloodand the will of the flesh, but the others are the authors of our birth from God, even that blessedregeneration which is the true freedom and the sonship according to grace. ( On the Priesthood ,Bk III)

St. Jerome (347-420). In his Letter 123 , he writes:

For if many wives in the lifetime of their husbands come to realize the truth of the apostle’swords: “all things are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient,” ( 1 Corinthians 6:12 ) andmake eunuchs of themselves for the kingdom of heaven’s sake ( Matthew 19:12 ) either byconsent after their regeneration through the baptismal laver, or else in the ardour of their faithimmediately after their marriage; why should not a widow, who by God’s decree has ceased tohave a husband, joyfully cry again and again with Job: “the Lord gave, and the Lord has takenaway,” ( Job 1:21 ) and seize the opportunity offered to her of having power over her own bodyinstead of again becoming the servant of a man. ( Letter 123 )

And in his Letter 144 , he writes:

Of those engendered of the seed of Adam no man is born without sin, and it is necessary even forbabes to be born anew in Christ by the grace of regeneration. ( Letter 144 )

D. Fifth Century Fathers

St. Augustine (354-430), bishop of Hippo. In his “ Confessions ,” St. Augustine writes:

Whom, not long after our conversion and regeneration by Your baptism, he being also a faithful

member of the Catholic Church, and serving You in perfect chastity and continency among hisown people in Africa, when his whole household had been brought to Christianity through him,You released from the flesh….

And although she [St. Augustine's mother Monica], having been “made alive” in Christ evenbefore she was freed from the flesh had so lived as to praise Your name both by her faith andconversation, yet dare I not say that from the time You regenerated her by baptism, no wordwent forth from her mouth against Your precepts. ( Confessions , IX)

In his work titled, “ On Continence ,” he writes:

And this fault indeed through the laver of regeneration the grace of God has already remittedunto the faithful; but under the hands of the same Physician nature as yet strives with itssickness. But in such a conflict victory will be entire soundness; and that, soundness not for atime, but for ever: wherein not only this sickness is to come to an end, but also none to arise afterit. … He becomes propitious to our iniquities, when He pardons sins: He heals sicknesses whenHe restrains evil desires. He becomes propitious unto iniquities by the grant of forgiveness: Heheals sicknesses, by the grant of continence. [This] was done in Baptism to persons confessing.(On Continence )








In his On the Proceedings Against Pelagius , he writes:

And who among us denies that in baptism the sins of all men are remitted, and that all believerscome up spotless and pure from the laver of regeneration? … But between the laver, where allpast stains and deformities are removed, and the kingdom, where the Church will remain for ever

without any spot or wrinkle, there is this present intermediate time of prayer, during which hercry must of necessity be: “Forgive us our debts.” ( On the Proceedings Against Pelagius , chapter28)

In Book 1 of his “ Against Two Letters of the Pelagians ,” he writes:

I say that baptism gives remission of all sins, and takes away guilt, and does not shave them off;and that the roots of all sins are not retained in the evil flesh, as if of shaved hair on the head,whence the sins may grow to be cut down again. (chapter 26)

And this very concupiscence of the flesh is in such wise put away in baptism, that although it is

inherited by all that are born, it in no respect hurts those that are born anew. And yet from these,if they carnally beget children, it is again derived; and again it will be hurtful to those that areborn, unless by the same form it is remitted to them as born again, and remains in them in noway hindering the future life, because its guilt, derived by generation, has been put away byregeneration; and thus it is now no more sin, but is called so, whether because it became what itis by sin, or because it is stirred by the delight of sinning, although by the conquest of the delightof righteousness consent is not given to it. Nor is it on account of this, the guilt of which hasalready been taken away in the laver of regeneration, that the baptized say in their prayer,“Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors;” Matthew 6:12 but on account of sinswhich are committed, whether in consentings to it, when what is right is overcome by that whichpleases, or when by ignorance evil is accepted as if it were good. (chapter 27)

Many baptized believers are without crime, but I should say that no one in this life is without sin,however much the Pelagians are inflated, and burst asunder in madness against me because I saythis: not because there remains anything of sin which is not remitted in baptism; but because byus who remain in the weakness of this life such sins do not cease daily to be committed, as aredaily remitted to those who pray in faith and work in mercy. (chapter 28)

In Book 2 of his “ Against Two Letters of the Pelagians ,” he writes:

Still, indeed, they alike [i.e. Manicheans and Pelagians] oppose the grace of Christ, they alikemake His baptism of no account, they alike dishonour His flesh; but, moreover, they do these

things in different ways and for different reasons. For the Manicheans assert that divineassistance is given to the merits of a good nature, but the Pelagians, to the merits of a good will.The former say, God owes this to the labours of His members; the latter say, God owes this tothe virtues of His servants. In both cases, therefore, the reward is not imputed according to grace,but according to debt. The Manicheans contend, with a profane heart, that the washing of regeneration— that is, the water itself— is superfluous, and is of no advantage. But the Pelagiansassert that what is said in holy baptism for the putting away of sins is of no avail to infants, asthey have no sin; and thus in the baptism of infants, as far as pertains to the remission of sins, the








Manicheans destroy the visible element, but the Pelagians destroy even the invisible sacrament.( Against Two Letters of the Pelagians , Bk II.3)

Then St. Augustine then quotes Pope Innocent writing against the Pelagians:

“For once,” he [i.e. Pope Innocent] said, “he [i.e. man] bore free will; but, using his advantageinconsiderately, and falling into the depths of apostasy, he was overwhelmed, and found no waywhereby he could rise from thence; and, deceived for ever by his liberty, he would have lainunder the oppression of this ruin, if the advent of Christ had not subsequently for his gracedelivered him, and, by the purification of a new regeneration, purged all past sin by the washingof His baptism.” What could be more clear or more manifest than that judgment of theApostolical See? … But among other things which had been uttered under his [i.e. Celestius']name, the deacon Paulinus had objected to Celestius that he said “that the sin of Adam wasprejudicial to himself alone, and not to the human race, and that infants newly born were in thesame condition in which Adam was before his sin.” Accordingly, if he [i.e. Celestius] wouldcondemn the views objected to by Paulinus with a truthful heart and tongue, according to the

judgment of the blessed Pope Innocent, what could remain to him afterwards whence he couldcontend that there was no sin in infants resulting from the past transgression of the first man,which would be purged in holy baptism by the purification of the new regeneration? ( Against Two Letters of the Pelagians , Bk II.6)

He again quotes Pope Innocent:

“And they who maintain this [i.e. eternal life] as being theirs without regeneration, appear to meto wish to destroy baptism itself, since they proclaim that these have that which we believe is notto be conferred on them without baptism.” ( Against Two Letters of the Pelagians , Bk II.7)

In Book 3 of “ Against Two Letters of the Pelagians ,” St. Augustine writes:Baptism, therefore, washes away indeed all sins— absolutely all sins, whether of deeds or wordsor thoughts, whether original or added, whether such as are committed in ignorance or allowed inknowledge; but it does not take away the weakness which the regenerate man resists when hefights the good fight, but to which he consents when as man he is overtaken in any fault . . . Andthere are innumerable passages with which the divine writings are filled, which alternately, eitherin exultation over God’s benefits or in lamentation over our own evils, are uttered by children of God by faith as long as they are still children of this world in respect of the weakness of this life;whom, nevertheless, God distinguishes from the children of the devil, not only by the laver of regeneration, but moreover by the righteousness of that faith which works by love, because the

just lives by faith. … Have we not been regenerated, adopted, and redeemed by the holywashing? And yet there remains a regeneration, an adoption, a redemption, which we ought nowpatiently to be waiting for as to come in the end, that we may then be in no degree any longerchildren of this world. Whosoever, then, takes away from baptism that which we only receive byits means, corrupts the faith; but whosoever attributes to it now that which we shall receive by itsmeans indeed, but yet hereafter, cuts off hope. For if any one should ask of me whether we havebeen saved by baptism, I shall not be able to deny it, since the apostle says, “He saved us by thewashing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” ( Titus 3:5 ) But if he should ask








whether by the same washing He has already absolutely in every way saved us, I shall answer: Itis not so. Because the same apostle also says, “For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen isnot hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, wewith patience wait for it.” ( Romans 8:24-25 ) Therefore the salvation of man is effected inbaptism, because whatever sin he has derived from his parents is remitted, or whatever,

moreover, he himself has sinned on his own account before baptism; but his salvation willhereafter be such that he cannot sin at all. ( Against Two Letters of the Pelagians , Bk III, chapter5)

But this I say, that according to the Holy Scriptures original sin is so manifest, and that this is putaway in infants by the laver of regeneration is confirmed by such antiquity and authority of thecatholic faith, notorious by such a clear concurrent testimony of the Church, that what is arguedby the inquiry or affirmation of anybody concerning the origin of the soul, if it is contrary to this,cannot be true. ( Against Two Letters of the Pelagians , Bk III, chapter 26)

In Book 4 of “ Against Two Letters of the Pelagians ,” St. Augustine writes:

If reconciliation through Christ is necessary to all men, on all men has passed sin by which wehave become enemies, in order that we should have need of reconciliation. This reconciliation isin the laver of regeneration and in the flesh and blood of Christ, without which not even infantscan have life in themselves….

And in the epistle which he [i.e. St. Cyprian] wrote with sixty-six of his joint-bishops to BishopFidus, when he [i.e. St. Cyprian] was consulted by him [i.e. Bishop Fidus] in respect of the lawof circumcision, whether an infant might be baptized before the eighth day, this matter is treatedin such a way as if by a divine forethought the catholic Church would already confute thePelagian heretics who would appear so long afterwards. For he who had consulted had no doubt

on the subject whether children on birth inherited original sin, which they might wash away bybeing born again. For be it far from the Christian faith to have at any time doubted on this matter.But he was in doubt whether the washing of regeneration, by which he made no question but thatoriginal sin was put away, ought to be given before the eighth day. ( Against Two Letters of thePelagians , Bk IV)

In his “ On the Creed: A Sermon to the Catechumens ,” regarding the line in the Creed “onebaptism for the forgiveness of sins,” St. Augustine writes:

“Forgiveness of sins.” You have [this article of] the Creed perfectly in you when you receiveBaptism. … When you have been baptized, hold fast a good life in the commandments of God,that you may guard your Baptism even unto the end. I do not tell you that you will live herewithout sin; but they are venial, without which this life is not. For the sake of all sins wasBaptism provided; for the sake of light sins, without which we cannot be, was prayer provided.What has the Prayer? “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” Once for all wehave washing in Baptism, every day we have washing in prayer. Only, do not commit thosethings for which you must needs be separated from Christ’s body: which be far from you! Forthose whom you have seen doing penance, have committed heinous things, either adulteries orsome enormous crimes: for these they do penance. Because if theirs had been light sins, to blot








out these daily prayer would suffice. … In three ways then are sins remitted in the Church; byBaptism, by prayer, by the greater humility of penance; yet God does not remit sins but to thebaptized. The very sins which He remits first, He remits not but to the baptized. When? Whenthey are baptized. The sins which are after remitted upon prayer, upon penance, to whom Heremits, it is to the baptized that He remits. For how can they say, “Our Father,” who are not yet

born sons?

In his Tractates On the Gospel of St. John , St. Augustine writes:

Spiritual regeneration is one, just as the generation of the flesh is one. And Nicodemus said thetruth when he said to the Lord that a man cannot, when he is old, return again into his mother’swomb and be born. He indeed said that a man cannot do this when he is old, as if he could do iteven were he an infant. But be he fresh from the womb, or now in years, he cannot possiblyreturn again into the mother’s bowels and be born. But just as for the birth of the flesh, thebowels of woman avail to bring forth the child only once, so for the spiritual birth the bowels of the Church avail that a man be baptized only once. ( On the Gospel of John, Tractate 12 )

It may perhaps surprise you why it is said, that “Jesus baptized more than John;” and after thiswas said, it is subjoined, “although Jesus baptized not, but His disciples.” What then? Was thestatement made false, and then corrected by this addition? Or, are both true, viz. that Jesus bothdid and also did not baptize? He did in fact baptize, because it was He that cleansed; and He didnot baptize, because it was not He that touched. The disciples supplied the ministry of the body;He afforded the aid of His majesty. Now, when could He cease from baptizing, so long as Heceased not from cleansing? Of Him it is said by the same John, in the person of the Baptist, whosays, “This is He that baptizes.” Jesus, therefore, is still baptizing; and so long as we continue tobe baptized, Jesus baptizes. Let a man come without fear to the minister below; for he has aMaster above. But it may be one says, Christ does indeed baptize, but in spirit, not in body. As if,

indeed, it were by the gift of another than He that any is imbued even with the sacrament of corporal and visible baptism. Would you know that it is He that baptizes, not only with the Spirit,but also with water? Hear the apostle: “Even as Christ,” says he, “loved the Church, and gaveHimself for it, purifying it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present toHimself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” Purifying it. How?“With the washing of water by the Word.” What is the baptism of Christ? The washing of waterby the Word (Eph. 5:26). Take away the water, it is no baptism; take away the Word, it is nobaptism. ( On the Gospel of John, Tractate 15 )

In the following statement St. Augustine sums up the gospel:

[I]n the fullness of time, when He knew that such had to be done, He sent His only-begotten Son,(Galatians 4:4 ) by whom He created all things, that He might become man while remaining God,and so be the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus: ( 1 Timothy 2:5 ) that thosewho believe in Him, being absolved by the laver of regeneration from the guilt of all their sins—to wit, both of the original sin they have inherited by generation, and to meet which, inparticular, regeneration was instituted, and of all others contracted by evil conduct—might bedelivered from perpetual condemnation, and live in faith and hope and love while sojourning inthis world, and be walking onward to His visible presence amid its toilsome and perilous








temptations on the one hand, but the consolations of God, both bodily and spiritual, on the other,ever keeping to the way which Christ has become to them. ( Tractates on the Gospel of John,124 )

In book 1 of his work, “ On the Merits and Remission of Sin, And the Baptism of Infants ,” St.

Augustine writes:

Hence men are on the one hand born in the flesh liable to sin and death from the first Adam, andon the other hand are born again in baptism associated with the righteousness and eternal life of the second Adam. (chapter.21)

For what Christian is there who would allow it to be said, that any one could attain to eternalsalvation without being born again in Christ—[a result] which He meant to be effected throughbaptism, at the very time when such a sacrament was purposely instituted for regenerating in thehope of eternal salvation? Whence the apostle says: “Not by works of righteousness which wehave done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the laver of regeneration.” ( Titus 3:5 )

(chapter 23)

Now, inasmuch as infants are not held bound by any sins of their own actual life, it is the guilt of original sin which is healed in them by the grace of Him who saves them by the laver of regeneration. (Chapter 24)

Now, inasmuch as infants are not held bound by any sins of their own actual life, it is the guilt of original sin which is healed in them by the grace of Him who saves them by the laver of regeneration. (chapter 25)

The Christians of Carthage have an excellent name for the sacraments, when they say that

baptism is nothing else than “salvation” and the sacrament of the body of Christ nothing elsethan “life.” Whence, however, was this derived, but from that primitive, as I suppose, andapostolic tradition, by which the Churches of Christ maintain it to be an inherent principle, thatwithout baptism and partaking of the supper of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attaineither to the kingdom of God or to salvation and everlasting life? So much also does Scripturetestify, according to the words which we already quoted. For wherein does their opinion, whodesignate baptism by the term salvation, differ from what is written: “He saved us by thewashing of regeneration?” or from Peter’s statement: “The like figure whereunto even baptismdoes also now save us? ” And what else do they say who call the sacrament of the Lord’s Supperlife , than that which is written: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven;” and “Thebread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world;” and “Except ye eat the flesh of theSon of man, and drink His blood, you shall have no life in you?” (chapter 34)

In what class, then, do we place baptized infants but among believers, as the authority of thecatholic Church everywhere asserts? They belong, therefore, among those who have believed;for this is obtained for them by virtue of the sacrament and the answer of their sponsors. Andfrom this it follows that such as are not baptized are reckoned among those who have notbelieved. … This then is the way in which spiritual regeneration is effected in all who come toChrist from their carnal generation. He explained it Himself, and pointed it out, when He was








asked, How these things could be? He left it open to no man to settle such a question by humanreasoning, lest infants should be deprived of the grace of the remission of sins. (chapter 62)

The latter class [of Pelagians, i.e. those Pelagians who think infants have only actual sin, notoriginal sin], indeed, by examining the Scriptures, and considering the authority of the whole

Church as well as the form of the sacrament itself, have clearly seen that by baptism remission of sins accrues to infants; but they are either unwilling or unable to allow that the sin which infantshave is original sin. (chapter 64)

In infants it is certain that, by the grace of God, through His baptism who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, it is brought to pass that the sinful flesh is done away. This result, however, is soeffected, that the concupiscence which is diffused over and innate in the living flesh itself is notremoved all at once, so as to exist in it no longer; but only that that might not be injurious to aman at his death, which was inherent at his birth. For should an infant live after baptism, andarrive at an age capable of obedience to a law, he finds there somewhat to fight against, and, byGod’s help, to overcome, if he has not received His grace in vain, and if he is not willing to be a

reprobate. For not even to those who are of riper years is it given in baptism (except, perhaps, byan unspeakable miracle of the almighty Creator), that the law of sin which is in their members,warring against the law of their mind, should be entirely extinguished, and cease to exist; but thatwhatever of evil has been done, said, or thought by a man while he was servant to a mind subjectto its concupiscence, should be abolished, and regarded as if it had never occurred. Theconcupiscence itself, however, (notwithstanding the loosening of the bond of guilt in which thedevil, by it, used to keep the soul, and the destruction of the barrier which separated man fromhis Maker,) remains in the contest in which we chasten our body and bring it into subjection,whether to be relaxed for lawful and necessary uses, or to be restrained by continence. (chapter70)

In book 2 of this same work he writes:And hence in the passage, “Whosoever is born of God does not sin, and he cannot sin, for Hisseed remains in him,” ( 1 John 3:9 ) and in every other passage of like import, they much deceivethemselves by an inadequate consideration of the Scriptures. For they fail to observe that menseverally become sons of God when they begin to live in newness of spirit, and to be renewed asto the inner man after the image of Him that created them. For it is not from the moment of aman’s baptism that all his old infirmity is destroyed, but renovation begins with the remission of all his sins, and so far as he who is now wise is spiritually wise. All things else, however, areaccomplished in hope, looking forward to their being also realized in fact, even to the renewal of the body itself in that better state of immortality and incorruption with which we shall be clothedat the resurrection of the dead. For this too the Lord calls a regeneration—though, of course, notsuch as occurs through baptism, but still a regeneration wherein that which is now begun in thespirit shall be brought to perfection also in the body. “In the regeneration,” says He, “when theSon of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging thetwelve tribes of Israel.” ( Matthew 19:28 ) For however entire and full be the remission of sins inbaptism, nevertheless, if there was wrought by it at once, an entire and full change of the maninto his everlasting newness—I do not mean change in his body, which is now most clearlytending evermore to the old corruption and to death, after which it is to be renewed into a total








and true newness—but, the body being excepted, if in the soul itself, which is the inner man, aperfect renewal was wrought in baptism, the apostle would not say: “Even though our outwardman perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” ( 2 Corinthians 4:16 ) Now,undoubtedly, he who is still renewed day by day is not as yet wholly renewed; and in so far as heis not yet wholly renewed, he is still in his old state. Since, then, men, even after they are

baptized, are still in some degree in their old condition, they are on that account also stillchildren of the world; but inasmuch as they are also admitted into a new state, that is to say, bythe full and perfect remission of their sins, and in so far as they are spiritually-minded, andbehave correspondingly, they are the children of God. Internally we put off the old man and puton the new; for we then and there lay aside lying, and speak truth, and do those other thingswherein the apostle makes to consist the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new,which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:24 Now it is men whoare already baptized and faithful whom he exhorts to do this—an exhortation which would beunsuitable to them, if the absolute and perfect change had been already made in their baptism.And yet made it was, since we were then actually saved; for “He saved us by the laver of regeneration.” ( Titus 3:5 ) In another passage, however, he tells us how this took place. “Not they

only,” says he, “but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselvesgroan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we aresaved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for?But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (chapter 9)

But the sacrament of baptism is undoubtedly the sacrament of regeneration: Wherefore, as theman who has never lived cannot die, and he who has never died cannot rise again, so he who hasnever been born cannot be born again. From which the conclusion arises, that no one who hasnot been born could possibly have been born again in his father. Born again, however, a manmust be, after he has been born; because, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see thekingdom of God” Even an infant, therefore, must be imbued with the sacrament of regeneration,lest without it his would be an unhappy exit out of this life; and this baptism is not administeredexcept for the remission of sins. And so much does Christ show us in this very passage; for whenasked, How could such things be? He reminded His questioner of what Moses did when he liftedup the serpent. Inasmuch, then, as infants are by the sacrament of baptism conformed to thedeath of Christ, it must be admitted that they are also freed from the serpent’s poisonous bite,unless we wilfully wander from the rule of the Christian faith. This bite, however, they did notreceive in their own actual life, but in him on whom the wound was primarily inflicted. (chapter43)

Now this is a consideration which, on account of the controversies that have arisen, and may stillarise, on this subject, we ought to keep in our view and memory,— that a full and perfectremission of sins takes place only in baptism, that the character of the actual man does not atonce undergo a total change, but that the first-fruits of the Spirit in such as walk worthily changethe old carnal nature into one of like character by a process of renewal, which increases day byday, until the entire old nature is so renovated that the very weakness of the natural body attainsto the strength and incorruptibility of the spiritual body. (chapter 44)

This law of sin, however, which the apostle also designates “sin,” when he says, “Let not sintherefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof,” ( Romans 6:12 )








does not so remain in the members of those who are born again of water and the Spirit, as if noremission thereof has been made, because there is a full and perfect remission of our sins, all theenmity being slain, which separated us from God; but it remains in our old carnal nature, as if overcome and destroyed, if it does not, by consenting to unlawful objects, somehow revive, andrecover its own reign and dominion. There is, however, so clear a distinction to be seen between

this old carnal nature, in which the law of sin, or sin, is already repealed, and that life of theSpirit, in the newness of which they who are baptized are through God’s grace born again, thatthe apostle deemed it too little to say of such that they were not in sin; unless he also said thatthey were not in the flesh itself, even before they departed out of this mortal life. … As long,then, as the law by concupiscence dwells in the members, although it remains, the guilt of it isreleased; but it is released only to him who has received the sacrament of regeneration, and hasalready begun to be renewed. (chapter 45)

You must not be surprised at what I have said, that although the law of sin remains with itsconcupiscence, the guilt thereof is done away through the grace of the sacrament. For as wickeddeeds, and words, and thoughts have already passed away, and cease to exist, so far as regards

the mere movements of the mind and the body, and yet their guilt remains after they have passedaway and no longer exist, unless it be done away by the remission of sins; so, contrariwise, inthis law of concupiscence, which is not yet done away but still remains, its guilt is done away,and continues no longer, since in baptism there takes place a full forgiveness of sins. Indeed, if aman were to quit this present life immediately after his baptism, there would be nothing at all leftto hold him liable, inasmuch as all which held him is released. (chapter 46)

In Book 3 of this same work, he writes:

All the rest, however, of the passage in which these doubtful words occur, if its statements arecarefully examined and treated, as I have tried my best to do in the first book of this treatise, will

not (in spite of the obscurity of style necessarily engendered by the subject itself) fail to show theincompatibility of any other meaning than that which has secured the adhesion of the universalChurch from the earliest times— that believing infants have obtained through the baptism of Christ the remission of original sin. (chapter 9)

For this is the point aimed at by the controversy, against the novelty of which we have tostruggle by the aid of ancient truth: that it is clearly altogether superfluous for infants to bebaptized. Not that this opinion is avowed in so many words, lest so firmly established a customof the Church should be unable to endure its assailants. But if we are taught to render help toorphans, how much more ought we to labour in behalf of those children who, though under theprotection of parents, will still be left more destitute and wretched than orphans, should thatgrace of Christ be denied them, which they are all unable to demand for themselves? (chapter 22)

One of St. Augustine’s longest and most well known works is titled the City of God . In Book 1of the City of God , he writes:

There remains one reason for suicide which I mentioned before, and which is thought a soundone—namely, to prevent one’s falling into sin either through the blandishments of pleasure orthe violence of pain. If this reason were a good one, then we should be impelled to exhort men at








once to destroy themselves, as soon as they have been washed in the laver of regeneration, andhave received the forgiveness of all sin. Then is the time to escape all future sin, when all pastsin is blotted out. And if this escape be lawfully secured by suicide, why not then specially? Whydoes any baptized person hold his hand from taking his own life? ( City of God , Bk I, chapter 27)

In Book 13 of the City of God , he writes:

Specially was this conspicuous in the holy martyrs, who could have had no victory, no glory, towhom there could not even have been any conflict, if, after the laver of regeneration, saints couldnot suffer bodily death….

For whatever unbaptized persons die confessing Christ, this confession is of the same efficacyfor the remission of sins as if they were washed in the sacred font of baptism. For He who said,“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,”made also an exception in their favor, in that other sentence where He no less absolutely said,“Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in

heaven”. ( City of God , Bk XIII)

In Book 20 of the City of God , St. Augustine writes:

As, then, there are two regenerations, of which I have already made mention, the one accordingto faith, and which takes place in the present life by means of baptism; the other according to theflesh, and which shall be accomplished in its incorruption and immortality by means of the greatand final judgment, so are there also two resurrections, the one the first and spiritual resurrection,which has place in this life, and preserves us from coming into the second death; the other thesecond, which does not occur now, but in the end of the world, and which is of the body, not of the soul, and which by the last judgment shall dismiss some into the second death, others into

that life which has no death.This city [i.e. the Church] is said to come down out of heaven, because the grace with which Godformed it is of heaven. Wherefore He says to it by Isaiah, “I am the Lord that formed you.”(Isaiah 45:8 ) It is indeed descended from heaven from its commencement, since its citizensduring the course of this world grow by the grace of God, which comes down from abovethrough the laver of regeneration in the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. ( City of God , Bk XX)

In Book 21 of the City of God St. Augustine writes:

In short, the words of Scripture, “An heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam, from the day thatthey go out of their mother’s womb till the day that they return to the mother of all things,”(Sirach 40:1 ) — these words so infallibly find fulfillment, that even the little ones, who by thelaver of regeneration have been freed from the bond of original sin in which alone they wereheld, yet suffer many ills, and in some instances are even exposed to the assaults of evil spirits.(City of God , Bk XXI, chapter 14)

In his Exposition on Psalm 119 , he writes:








The heart then of the members and the body of Christ is made unspotted, through the grace of God, by means of the very Head of that Body, that is, through Jesus Christ our Lord, by the“laver of regeneration,” ( Titus 3:5 ) wherein all our past sins have been blotted out; through theaid of the Spirit, whereby we lust against the flesh, that we be not overcome in our fight;(Galatians 5:17 ) through the efficacy of the Lord’s Prayer, wherein we say, “Forgive us our

trespasses.” ( Matthew 6:12 ) Thus regeneration having been given to us, our conflict having beenaided, prayer having been poured forth, our heart is made unspotted, so that we be not ashamed.(Luke 6:37-38 ) ( Exposition on Psalm 119 )

In Book I of “ On Marriage and Concupiscence ,” he writes:

Because, then, we affirm this doctrine [i.e. original sin], which is contained in the oldest andunvarying rule of the catholic faith, these propounders [i.e. Pelagians] of the novel and perversedogma, who assert that there is no sin in infants to be washed away in the laver of regeneration,(Titus 3:5 ) in their unbelief or ignorance calumniate us, as if we condemned marriage, and as if we asserted to be the devil’s work what is God’s own work— the human being which is born of

marriage. (chapter 1)

In like manner the soul of an apostate, which renounces as it were its marriage union with Christ,does not, even though it has cast its faith away, lose the sacrament of its faith, which it receivedin the laver of regeneration. It would undoubtedly be given back to him if he were to return,although he lost it on his departure from Christ. He retains, however, the sacrament after hisapostasy, to the aggravation of his punishment, not for meriting the reward. (chapter 11)

Yet inasmuch as we are children of God, our inner man is renewed from day to day. ( 2Corinthians 4:16 ) And yet even our outer man has been sanctified through the laver of regeneration, and has received the hope of future incorruption, on which account it is justly

designated as “the temple of God.” (chapter 20)Now the Christian faith unfalteringly declares, what our new heretics have begun to deny, boththat they who are cleansed in the laver of regeneration are redeemed from the power of the devil,and that those who have not yet been redeemed by such regeneration are still captive in thepower of the devil …. From this power of darkness, therefore, of which the devil is the prince—in other words, from the power of the devil and his angels—infants are delivered when they arebaptized; and whosoever denies this, is convicted by the truth of the Church’s very sacraments,which no heretical novelty in the Church of Christ is permitted to destroy or change, so long asthe Divine Head rules and helps the entire body which He owns— small as well as great. It istrue, then, and in no way false, that the devil’s power is exorcised in infants, and that theyrenounce him by the hearts and mouths of those who bring them to baptism, being unable to doso by their own; in order that they may be delivered from the power of darkness, and betranslated into the kingdom of their Lord. What is that, therefore, within them which keeps themin the power of the devil until they are delivered from it by Christ’s sacrament of baptism? Whatis it, I ask, but sin? Nothing else, indeed, has the devil found which enables him to put under hisown control that nature of man which the good Creator made good. But infants have committedno sin of their own since they have been alive. Only original sin, therefore, remains, wherebythey are made captive under the devil’s power, until they are redeemed therefrom by the laver of








regeneration and the blood of Christ, and pass into their Redeemer’s kingdom,— the power of their enthraller being frustrated, and power being given them to become “sons of God” instead of children of this world. (chapter 22)

Now this concupiscence, this law of sin which dwells in our members, to which the law of

righteousness forbids allegiance, saying in the words of the apostle, “Let not sin, therefore, reignin your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof; neither yield your members asinstruments of unrighteousness unto sin:” ( Romans 6:12 -13) — this concupiscence, I say, whichis cleansed only by the sacrament of regeneration, does undoubtedly, by means of natural birth,pass on the bond of sin to a man’s posterity, unless they are themselves loosed from it byregeneration. (chapter 25)

There will, however, be left no corruption at all in even carnal seed, when the same regeneration,which is now effected through the sacred laver, purges and heals all man’s evil to the very end.By its means the very same flesh, through which the carnal mind was formed, shall becomespiritual, no longer having that carnal lust which resists the law of the mind, no longer emitting

carnal seed. For in this sense must be understood that which the apostle whom we have so oftenquoted says elsewhere: “Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctifyand cleanse it by the washing of water by the word; that He might present it to Himself aglorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” It must, I say, be understood asimplying, that by this laver of regeneration and word of sanctification all the evils of regeneratemen of whatever kind are cleansed and healed, not the sins only which are all now remitted inbaptism, but those also which after baptism are committed by human ignorance and frailty; not,indeed, that baptism is to be repeated as often as sin is repeated, but that by its one onlyministration it comes to pass that pardon is secured to the faithful of all their sins both before andafter their regeneration. For of what use would repentance be, either before baptism, if baptismdid not follow; or after it, if it did not precede? Nay, in the Lord’s Prayer itself, which is ourdaily cleansing, of what avail or advantage would it be for that petition to be uttered, “Forgive usour debts,” unless it be by such as have been baptized? And in like manner, how great soever bethe liberality and kindness of a man’s alms, what, I ask, would they profit him towards theremission of his sins if he had not been baptized? In short, on whom but on the baptized shall bebestowed the very felicities of the kingdom of heaven; where the Church shall have no spot, orwrinkle, or any such thing; where there shall be nothing blameworthy, nothing unreal; wherethere shall be not only no guilt for sin, but no concupiscence to excite it? And thus not only allthe sins, but all the ills of men of what kind soever, are in course of removal by the holiness of that Christian laver whereby Christ cleanses His Church, that He may present it to Himself, notin this world, but in that which is to come, as not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.(chapter 38)

Now the blessed Ambrose, bishop of Milan, by whose priestly office I received the washing of regeneration, briefly spoke on this matter …. (chapter 40)

In Book 2 of this same work ( On Marriage and Concupiscence ), St. Augustine writes:

“They [i.e. the Pelagians] deny that there is in infants any sin to be washed away in the laver of regeneration.” For all persons [i.e. all Catholics] run to church with their infants for no other








reason in the world than that the original sin which is contracted in them by their first and naturalbirth may be cleansed by the regeneration of their second birth. (chapter 4)

In his “ Sermons to Catechumens on the Creed ,” regarding the line “Forgiveness of sins,” St.Augustine writes:

“Forgiveness of sins.” You have [this article of] the Creed perfectly in you when you receiveBaptism. Let none say, “I have done this or that sin: perchance that is not forgiven me.” Whathave you done? How great a sin have you done? Name any heinous thing you have committed,heavy, horrible, which you shudder even to think of: have done what you will: have you killedChrist? There is not than that deed any worse, because also than Christ there is nothing better.What a dreadful thing is it to kill Christ! Yet the Jews killed Him, and many afterwards believedon Him and drank His blood: they are forgiven the sin which they committed. When you havebeen baptized, hold fast a good life in the commandments of God, that you may guard yourBaptism even unto the end. I do not tell you that you will live here without sin; but they arevenial, without which this life is not. For the sake of all sins was Baptism provided; for the sake

of light sins, without which we cannot be, was prayer provided. What has the Prayer? “Forgiveus our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” Once for all we have washing in Baptism, everyday we have washing in prayer. Only, do not commit those things for which you must needs beseparated from Christ’s body: which be far from you! For those whom you have seen doingpenance, have committed heinous things, either adulteries or some enormous crimes: for thesethey do penance. Because if theirs had been light sins, to blot out these daily prayer wouldsuffice.

In three ways then are sins remitted in the Church; by Baptism, by prayer, by the greater humilityof penance; yet God does not remit sins but to the baptized. The very sins which He remits first,He remits not but to the baptized. When? When they are baptized. The sins which are after

remitted upon prayer, upon penance, to whom He remits, it is to the baptized that He remits. Forhow can they say, “Our Father,” who are not yet born sons? ( Sermon to Catechumens on theCreed , 15-16)

In his “ Letter 98 ,” St. Augustine writes:

[I]n the holy union of the parts of the body of Christ, so great is the virtue of that sacrament,namely, of baptism, which brings salvation, that so soon as he who owed his first birth to others,acting under the impulse of natural instincts, has been made partaker of the second birth byothers, acting under the impulse of spiritual desires, he cannot be thenceforward held under thebond of that sin in another to which he does not with his own will consent.

But the possibility of regeneration through the office rendered by the will of another, when thechild is presented to receive the sacred rite, is the work exclusively of the Spirit by whom thechild thus presented is regenerated. For it is not written, “Except a man be born again by the willof his parents, or by the faith of those presenting the child, or of those administering theordinance,” but, “Except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit.” By the water, therefore,which holds forth the sacrament of grace in its outward form, and by the Spirit who bestows thebenefit of grace in its inward power, canceling the bond of guilt, and restoring natural goodness








[reconcilians bonum natur ], the man deriving his first birth originally from Adam alone, isregenerated in Christ alone. Now the regenerating Spirit is possessed in common both by theparents who present the child, and by the infant that is presented and is born again.” …

Some, indeed, bring their little ones for baptism, not in the believing expectation that they shall

be regenerated unto life eternal by spiritual grace, but because they think that by this as a remedythe children may recover or retain bodily health; but let not this disquiet your mind, because theirregeneration is not prevented by the fact that this blessing has no place in the intention of thoseby whom they are presented for baptism. ( Letter 98 )

In his Sermon 6 on the New Testament , St. Augustine writes:

Although therefore all our sins were forgiven in the “laver of regeneration,” we should be driveninto great straits, if there were not given to us the daily cleansing of the Holy Prayer. Alms andprayers purge away sins; only let not such sins be committed, for which we must necessarily beseparated from our daily Bread. ( Sermon 6 on the New Testament )

In his Sermon 8 , he writes:

You knew then that you have repeated this in the Creed, because among the rest you havementioned there “the remission of sins.” There is one remission of sins which is given once forall; another which is given day by day. There is one remission of sins which is given once for allin Holy Baptism; another which is given as long as we live here in the Lord’s Prayer. … [B]utthose great crimes which it is your blessing to have been forgiven in Baptism, and from whichwe ought to be ever free, are of one sort, and of another are those daily sins, without which aman cannot live in this world, by reason of which this daily prayer with its covenant andagreement is necessary; that as we say with all cheerfulness, “Forgive us our debts;” so we may

say with all truth, “As we also forgive our debtors.” ( Sermon 8 )In his Sermon 21 on the New Testament , he writes:

Some think that they only sin against the Holy Ghost, who having been washed in the laver of regeneration in the Church, and having received the Holy Spirit, as though unthankful for sogreat a gift of the Saviour, have plunged themselves afterwards into any deadly sin; as adultery,or murder, or an absolute apostasy, either altogether from the Christian name, or from theCatholic Church. But how this sense of it may be proved, I know not; since the place of repentance is not denied in the Church to any sins whatever; and the Apostle says that hereticsthemselves are to be reproved to this end, “If God perhaps will give them repentance to the

acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil,who are taken captive by him at his will.” ( Sermon 21 on the New Testament )

In his work titled “ On Nature and Grace ,” he writes:

Whence they, who are not liberated through grace, either because they are not yet able to hear, orbecause they are unwilling to obey; or again because they did not receive, at the time when theywere unable on account of youth to hear, that bath of regeneration, which they might have








received and through which they might have been saved, are indeed justly condemned; becausethey are not without sin, either that which they have derived from their birth, or that which theyhave added from their own misconduct. “For all have sinned”— whether in Adam or inthemselves— “and come short of the glory of God.” ( Romans 3:23 ) (On Nature and Grace , 4)

In Book 2 of his work titled “ On the Soul and Its Origin ,” he writes:

The new-fangled Pelagian heretics have been most justly condemned by the authority of catholiccouncils and of the Apostolic See, on the ground of their having dared to give to unbaptizedinfants a place of rest and salvation, even apart from the kingdom of heaven. This they would nothave dared to do, if they did not deny their having original sin, and the need of its remission bythe sacrament of baptism…. And so far from promising the abolition of original sin to any onewho has not been regenerated in the laver of Christian faith, the apostle exclaims, “By theoffense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation.” ( Romans 5:18 ) And as acounterbalance against this condemnation, the Lord exhibits the help of His salvation alone,saying, “He that believes, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be

damned.” ( Mark 16:16 ) (On the Soul and Its Origin , Bk II, chapter 17)

In Book 3 of this same work he writes:

[T]he kingdom of heaven is one thing, into which none are permitted to enter, according to theLord’s own true and settled sentence, unless they are washed in the laver of regeneration. … It isenough to find that no one can enter into the kingdom of God, except he be washed in the laverof regeneration. (Bk III, chapters 16-17)

In Book I of his work titled, “ On the Predestination of the Saints ,” he writes:

Thus also our being born again of water and the Spirit is not recompensed to us for any merit, butfreely given; and if faith has brought us to the laver of regeneration, we ought not therefore tosuppose that we have first given anything, so that the regeneration of salvation should berecompensed to us again …. ( On the Predestination of the Saints , Bk 1, chapter 32)

In Book 2 of this same work he writes:

“Well, because He says, Be holy because I also am holy, we ask and entreat that we, who weresanctified in baptism, may persevere in that which we have begun to be.” (Bk II, chapter 4)

Is, therefore, the faith to be called in question or forsaken, which the catholic Church maintains

against those very Pelagians, asserting as she does that it is original sin, the guilt of which,contracted by generation, must be remitted by regeneration? And if they confess this with us, sothat we may at once, in this matter of the Pelagians, destroy error, why do they think that it mustbe doubted that God can deliver even infants, to whom He gives His grace by the sacrament of baptism, from the power of darkness, and translate them into the kingdom of the Son of Hislove? (Bk II, chapter 27)

In his work titled, “ On Rebuke and Grace ,” he writes:








And when, in the Lord’s Prayer, we say to God the Father, “Hallowed be Your name,” Matthew6:9 what do we ask but that His name may be hallowed in us? And as this is alreadyaccomplished by means of the laver of regeneration, why is it daily asked by believers, exceptthat we may persevere in that which is already done in us? For the blessed Cyprian alsounderstands this in this manner, inasmuch as, in his exposition of the same prayer, he says: “We

say, ‘Hallowed be Your name,’ not that we wish for God that He may be hallowed by ourprayers, but that we ask of God that His name may be hallowed in us. But by whom is Godhallowed; since He Himself hallows? Well, because He said, ‘Be holy, since I also am holy;’ weask and entreat that we who have been hallowed in baptism may persevere in that which we havebegun to be.” ( On Rebuke and Grace , chapter 10)

In Book 2 of his work titled “ On the Grace of Christ and on Original Sin ,” he writes:

Next I beg of you, carefully to observe with what caution you ought to lend an ear, on thequestion of the baptism of infants, to men of this character, who dare not openly deny the laverof regeneration and the forgiveness of sins to this early age, for fear that Christian ears would not

bear to listen to them; and who yet persist in holding and urging their opinion, that the carnalgeneration is not held guilty of man’s first sin, although they seem to allow infants to be baptizedfor the remission of sins. (Bk II, chapter 1)

You, of course, see that Cœlestius [the Pelagian] here conceded baptism for infants only in sucha manner as to be unwilling to confess that the sin of the first man, which is washed away in thelaver of regeneration, passes over to them. (Bk II, chapter 4)

The real objection against them [i.e. the Pelagians] is, that they refuse to confess that unbaptizedinfants are liable to the condemnation of the first man, and that original sin has been transmittedto them and requires to be purged by regeneration; their contention being that infants must be

baptized solely for being admitted into the kingdom of heaven. (Bk II, chapter 19)[W]hat we are discussing concerns the obliteration of original sin in infants. Let him clearhimself on this point, since he refuses to acknowledge that there is anything in infants which thelaver of regeneration has to cleanse. (Bk II, chapter 21)

To this blessed consummation advances are even now made by us, through the grace of that holylaver which we have put within our reach. The same regeneration which now renews our spirit,so that all our past sins are remitted, will by and by also operate, as might be expected, to therenewal to eternal life of that very flesh, by the resurrection of which to an incorruptible state theincentives of all sins will be purged out of our nature. But this salvation is as yet onlyaccomplished in hope: it is not realized in fact; it is not in present possession, but it is lookedforward to with patience. [XL.] And thus there is a whole and perfect cleansing, in the self-samebaptismal laver, not only of all the sins remitted now in our baptism, which make us guilty owingto the consent we yield to wrong desires, and to the sinful acts in which they issue; but of thesesaid wrong desires also, which, if not consented to by us, would contract no guilt of sin, andwhich, though not in this present life removed, will yet have no existence in the life beyond. Theguilt, therefore, of that corruption of which we are speaking will remain in the carnal offspring of








the regenerate, until in them also it be washed away in the laver of regeneration. (Bk II, chapter44-45)

In his Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Charity, he writes:

And this is the meaning of the great sacrament of baptism which is solemnized among us, that allwho attain to this grace should die to sin, as He is said to have died to sin, because He died in theflesh, which is the likeness of sin; and rising from the font regenerate, as He arose alive from thegrave, should begin a new life in the Spirit, whatever may be the age of the body? For from theinfant newly born to the old man bent with age, as there is none shut out from baptism, so thereis none who in baptism does not die to sin. But infants die only to original sin; those who areolder die also to all the sins which their evil lives have added to the sin which they brought withthem. (Chapters 42-43)

Now, those who were baptized in the baptism of John, by whom Christ was Himself baptized,were not regenerated; but they were prepared through the ministry of His forerunner, who cried,

“Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” for Him in whom only they could be regenerated. For Hisbaptism is not with water only, as was that of John, but with the Holy Ghost also; so thatwhoever believes in Christ is regenerated by that Spirit, of whom Christ being generated, He didnot need regeneration. (Chapter 49)

In Book 1 of his work titled “ On Baptism: Against the Donatists ,” he writes:

And what is regeneration in baptism, except the being renovated from the corruption of the oldman? And how can he be so renovated whose past sins are not remitted? But if he be notregenerate, neither does he put on Christ; from which it seems to follow that he ought to bebaptized again. For the apostle says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have

put on Christ;” ( Galatians 3:27 ) and if he has not so put on Christ, neither should he beconsidered to have been baptized in Christ. Further, since we say that he has been baptized inChrist, we confess that he has put on Christ; and if we confess this, we confess that he isregenerate. And if this be so, how does St. John say, “He that hates his brother remains still indarkness,” if remission of his sins has already taken place? Can it be that schism does not involvehatred of one’s brethren? Who will maintain this, when both the origin of, and perseverance inschism consists in nothing else save hatred of the brethren?

They think that they solve this question when they say: “There is then no remission of sins inschism, and therefore no creation of the new man by regeneration, and accordingly neither isthere the baptism of Christ.” But since we confess that the baptism of Christ exists in schism, wepropose this question to them for solution: Was Simon Magus endued with the true baptism of Christ? They will answer, Yes; being compelled to do so by the authority of holy Scripture. I ask them whether they confess that he received remission of his sins. They will certainlyacknowledge it. So I ask why Peter said to him that he had no part in the lot of the saints.Because, they say, he sinned afterwards, wishing to buy with money the gift of God, which hebelieved the apostles were able to sell. (Bk 1, chapter 11)









But the baptism of Christ, consecrated by the words of the Gospel, is holy even thoughadministered by adulterers to adulterers, even though they be unclean and unchaste; and thedivine power accompanies its sacramentum either for the salvation of those who receive itworthily or for the ruin of those who receive it unworthily. (Bk 3, chapter 10)


[I]n Cornelius the spiritual sanctification came first in the gift of the Holy Spirit, and thesacrament of regeneration was added afterwards in the laver of baptism. … By all theseconsiderations it is proved that the sacrament of baptism is one thing, the conversion of the heartanother; but that man’s salvation is made complete through the two together. Nor are we tosuppose that, if one of these be wanting, it necessarily follows that the other is wanting also;because the sacrament may exist in the infant without the conversion of the heart; and this wasfound to be possible without the sacrament in the case of the thief, God in either case filling upwhat was involuntarily wanting. But when either of these requisites is wanting intentionally, thenthe man is responsible for the omission. And baptism may exist when the conversion of the heart

is wanting; but, with respect to such conversion, it may indeed be found when baptism has notbeen received, but never when it has been despised. (Bk IV, Chapter 25)

Council of Carthage (A.D. 419) The Council of Carthage was a local council that met toaddress the Pelagian heresy. Canon 110 from this council reads:

Likewise it seemed good that whosoever denies that infants newly from their mother’s wombsshould be baptized, or says that baptism is for remission of sins, but that they derive from Adamno original sin, which needs to be removed by the laver of regeneration, from whence theconclusion follows, that in them the form of baptism for the remission of sins, is to beunderstood as false and not true, let him be anathema.

For no otherwise can be understood what the Apostle says, “By one man sin has come into theworld, and death through sin, and so death passed upon all men in that all have sinned,” than theCatholic Church everywhere diffused has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith ( regulam fidei ) even infants, who could have committed as yet no sin themselves, thereforeare truly baptized for the remission of sins, in order that what in them is the result of generationmay be cleansed by regeneration. (Canon 110)

St. John Cassian (360-435). In his work titled “ On the Incarnation ,” St. John Cassian wrote:

Whereas now, as you were born in a Catholic city, instructed in the Catholic faith, and

regenerated with Catholic Baptism, how can I deal with you as with an Arian or Sabellian? …Acknowledge the sacraments of your salvation, by which you were initiated and regenerated.They are of no less use to you now than they were then; for they can now regenerate you bypenance, as they then gave you birth through the Font. (Bk VI, chapter 5, 18)

St. Leo the Great (395-461), in his Fifteenth Letter , writes:








Christ, according to the flesh, say that His Passion and Resurrection was fictitious, not true, anddeprive the baptism of regeneration of all its power as a means of grace. ( Sermon 9 )

In his Sermon 24 he writes:

For the earth of human flesh, which in the first transgressor, was cursed, in this Offspring of theBlessed Virgin only produced a seed that was blessed and free from the fault of its stock. Andeach one is a partaker of this spiritual origin in regeneration; and to every one when he is re-born, the water of baptism is like the Virgin’s womb; for the same Holy Spirit fills the font, Whofilled the Virgin, that the sin, which that sacred conception overthrew, may be taken away by thismystical washing. ( Sermon 24 , section III)

In Sermon 64 he writes:

It is He Who, born of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, fertilizes His unpolluted Churchwith the same blessed Spirit, that by the birth of Baptism an innumerable multitude of sons may

be born to God …. It is He whose sufferings are shared not only by the martyrs’ gloriouscourage, but also in the very act of regeneration by the faith of all the new-born. For therenunciation of the devil and belief in God, the passing from the old state into newness of life,the casting off of the earthly image, and the putting on of the heavenly form— all this is a sort of dying and rising again, whereby he that is received by Christ and receives Christ is not the sameafter as he was before he came to the font, for the body of the regenerate becomes the flesh of theCrucified. ( Sermon 63 )

E. Sixth Century Fathers

St. Gregory the Great (540-604). In Book 4 of his Epistles , St. Gregory the Great writes:Now in those parts, so far as we have learned, the audacity of the Donatists has so increased thatnot only do they with pestiferous assumption of authority cast out of their churches priests of theCatholic faith, but fear not even to rebaptize those whom the water of regeneration had cleansedon a true confession. (Bk 4, Epistle 34 )

In Book 11 he writes:

Whosoever says, then, that sins are not entirely put away in baptism, let him say that theEgyptians did not really die in the Red Sea. But, if he acknowledges that the Egyptians really

died, he must needs acknowledge that sins die entirely in baptism, since surely the truth availsmore in our absolution than the shadow of the truth. (Book 11, Epistle 45 )

The unanimous position taught by the fathers is that that baptism not only signifies but alsoactually effects the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This is still thedoctrine of the Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1215 .








Baptism in Scripture

Here I will briefly consider some of the passages of Scripture pertaining to baptism. We seebaptism prefigured in the Old Testament in various places. In Genesis 1 we see that the Spirit

hovers over the water in creation. Similarly, the Spirit descended when Christ was baptized byJohn. And in the same way the Spirit descends upon the waters in our baptism. In 1 Peter we seethat the story of Noah’s ark is a type of baptism. Peter writes:

“… when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of theark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Andcorresponding to that, baptism now saves you not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but anappeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” ( 1 Peter 3:20-21 )

Why does baptism give us a good conscience? Because in baptism all our sins are forgiven, andwe are raised to new Life in Christ. The wood, the water, and the dove show the relation of the

cross, the water, and the Spirit in baptism. Similarly, the crossing of the Red Sea also is a type of baptism, wherein our enemy (sin) is drowned and we pass into new life. Also, the bitter waterthat was sweetened by the wood at Marah is a type of baptism: the wood is the cross that bringsthe power of the Spirit to the water to give us life. The story of Naaman the Syrian is also a typeof baptism. The seven dippings prefigure the seven sacraments, of which baptism is the gate.Naaman is cleansed not by water alone, for he had water in his own land. He is cleansed by thecombination of the water and the word.

In the New Testament, we see baptism revealed in John 19:34 , where water and blood pour fromChrist’s side. From this water and blood that proceeds from the side of Christ, Christ’s bride ismade. This is why Jesus says:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into thekingdom of God.” (St. John 3:5 );

When refers to being “born again” ( John 3:3 ), he is talking about being regenerated throughbaptism. Similarly Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark:

“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall becondemned.” (Mk. 16:16)

The Fathers all understand the following verse in Titus to be referring to baptism.

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according toHis mercy, by the washing [laver] of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” ( Titus 3:5 )

I have found not a single Church Father who thought that this verse does not refer to baptism.

Paul also writes the following to the Ephesians:








Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her;that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that Hemight present to Himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any suchthing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” ( Eph 5:25-27 )

Here again, the washing of water with the word refers to baptism, since baptism is thecombination of matter and form, i.e. washing with water [matter] accompanied by the invocationof the Holy Trinity [form], (i.e. the sacrament of regeneration through water and the word). Whyis it called “washing” if it does not cleanse?

The Apostle Peter says on the day of Pentecost:

“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sinsand you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” ( Acts 2:38 )

Then in Acts 22:16 , Ananias says to Paul:

“Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on Hisname.”

In these three passages we find that our sins are washed away in baptism. These fit perfectly withwhat is said in the Fathers and in the Creed: “We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgivenessof sins.” John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance; it was not a baptism of regeneration. (cf.Acts 19) Christ’s baptism was with water and the Spirit; in Christ’s baptism we receive the Spiritand become adopted sons and daughters of God.

Finally, baptism signifies and actually brings about our union with Christ in His death and

resurrection. The Apostle Paul writes,

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptizedinto His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in orderthat as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk innewness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainlywe shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” ( Romans 6:3 -5)

St. Paul tells us that we are “baptized into Christ Jesus.” We are baptized “into His death,”“buried with Him through baptism.” In Romans chapter six we see that through baptism we areunited to Christ in His death and resurrection. This is not merely figurative language; in baptism

we are ontologically united to Christ’s death and resurrection in such a way that the charactereffected in our soul by our baptism is indelible. (cf. Col 2:12 )

In 1 Corinthians 15 St. Paul explains that Christ is the second Adam. In baptism we areimmersed into the cleansing water that flowed from Christ’s side. We receive sanctifying graceand the Holy Spirit, and thus die to sin. This is what is meant by “dying with Christ.” We arethus buried with Him and reborn in His resurrection. The life we live is no longer only natural; itis a supernatural life, the Life of the Second Adam. This is why the baptism of Catechumens has








historically taken place on Easter, for in baptism we are joined to Him in His death andresurrection.

One of the first Protestants, Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), was so confident in his owninterpretation of Scripture that he wrote, “In this matter of baptism—if I may be pardoned for

saying it – I can only conclude that all the doctors have been in error from the time of theapostles.” What is good about Zwingli’s statement is that he at least saw the truth of theincompatibility of his theology of baptism with that of the Church Fathers. He saw that holdinghis position would entail that they were all wrong, and he was willing to bite that bullet. If asWes White has said, the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is “impossible in the Reformedsystem,” and if the evidence in support of the truth of baptismal regeneration outweighs theevidence in support of the “Reformed system,” then the “Reformed system” cannot be retained.Either ecclesial deism is true, and all the Church Fathers fell into the ‘heresy’ of baptismalregeneration, or ecclesial deism is false, and the Fathers were right about baptismal regeneration.And if the Fathers were right about baptismal regeneration, and baptismal regeneration is“impossible in the Reformed system,” then there is at least a major error in the Reformed system.

If we are to follow the Church and the Creed, then when we say we believe in “one baptism forthe forgiveness of sins,” we must believe what the Church has always taught this to mean. Thefaith by which we are saved, is a faith that testifies that we are saved by baptism.

1. See here and here and here . [↩ ]2. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, this work “is directed against a female teacher of error belonging to the

sect of Gaius (perhaps the Anti-Montanist). We learn that baptism was conferred regularly by the bishop, butwith his consent could be administered by priests, deacons, or even laymen. The proper times were Easter andPentecost. Preparation was made by fasting, vigils, and prayers.” [ ↩ ]

the church fathers on baptismal regeneration

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