ކ use of the following expression: "That we might be plunged in the bath of baptism In the succeeding chapter, he alludes to the cleansing of the body and that of the soul. Cyril of Jerusalem,* in his Discourses to the catechumens he was preparing for baptism, says to them: "You are about to descend into the baptistery in order to be plunged in water (e's Tò üdwρ кaтaßaíveiv), (Catech. iii.) For he who is plunged in water is surrounded on all sides by water; thus the Apostles were baptized in the Holy Ghost, but with this difference, however, that whilst the water can reach only the outer surface of the body, the Holy Spirit cleanses in a mysterious manner the inner soul!" (Catech. xvii.) The discourses of Cyprian give us a minute and interesting account of the rites of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Epiphanius, † in his Treatise on Heresies, writes: "Instituting the washing (MoUтρòv) of baptism, He (the Saviour) said: "Go ye, and baptize in the name of from the old heathen authors as were fitted to make the mind regard the evidence of Christianity in a favourable light; the Evangelical Demonstration, in twenty books, written to convince the Jews of the truth of Christianity; and the Ecclesiastical History, in ten books, which extends to the year 324. *Cyril (315-386), Bishop of Jerusalem, was an eminent church. Father, whose writings are exceedingly valuable on account of their theology as well as their vigour, profundity, and beauty. He is well known for his catechetical discourses, of which there are twentythree still extant. They are divided into two classes; the first eighteen are addressed to catechumens deemed worthy of baptism, and are a brief exposition of the general doctrines of Christianity; the remaining five are addressed to persons already baptized; they are distinguished by the name of Mystagogical Lectures, and are chiefly devoted to the explanation of the nature of the ordinances. Epiphanius (born about A.D. 330) was Bishop of Salamis. Among his writings the most important is his Panarion, or Catalogue of All Heresies (eighty in number). the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," (Hæreses, vii.) Basil, in his sermon De Baptismo, says: "How can we be placed in a condition of likeness to His death? By being 'buried with Him in baptism.' How are we to go down with Him into the grave? By imitating the 'burial' of Christ in baptism; for the bodies of the baptized are in a sense buried in water. For this reason, the Apostle speaks figuratively of baptism, as a ‘laying aside the works of the flesh: ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism,' which, in a manner, cleanses the soul from the impurity of its natural carnal affections, according as it is written, 'Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.' This is not like the Jewish purifications, washing after every defilement, but we have experienced it to be one cleansing baptism, one death to the world, and one resurrection from the dead, of both of which baptism is a figure. For this purpose the Lord, the giver of life, hath instituted baptism, a representation of both life and death, the water overflowing as an image of death, the Spirit animating as an earnest of life. Thus we see that water and the Spirit are united. Two things are proposed in baptism to put an end to a life of sin, lest it should issue in eternal death, and to animate the soul to a life of future sanctification. The water exhibits an image of death, receiving the body as into a sepulchre: the Spirit renews the soul, and we rise from a death of sin into a newness of life. This is to be born from above, of water * Basil (329-379), Bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, is one of the most eminent and eloquent of the Greek Fathers. He was surnamed the Great on account of his learning and picty. He wrote homilies, expositions, panegyrics, a revision of the Septuagint, and letters. and the Spirit;' as if by the water we were put to death, and by the operation of the Spirit brought to life. By three immersions, therefore, and by three invocations, we administer the important ceremony of baptism, that death may be represented in a figure, and that the souls of the baptized may be purified by divine knowledge. If there be any benefit in the water, it is not from the water, but from the presence of the Spirit; for baptism does not 'save us by putting away the filth of the flesh,' but by 'the answer of a good conscience towards God.'" (Robinson's History of Baptism, pp. 65, 66.) After you averred that Augustine, in his sermon De Mysterio Baptismatis (On the Mystery of Baptism), expresses himself in the following manner: "In this font, before we dipped your whole body, we asked you: 'Believest thou in God the Omnipotent Father? you believed, we immersed three times your heads in the sacred font. For you are rightly immersed three times, who receive baptism in the name of the Trinity. You are rightly immersed three times, you who receive baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, who rose the third day from the dead. Trine immersion is the symbol of the burial of the Lord, by which you are buried with Christ in baptism, and with Christ rise again by faith, that, purified of your sins, you may live following Christ in the holiness of virtue.” Here Augustine quotes the " * Augustine: In hoc ergo fonte, antequàm vos toto corpore tingueremus, interrogavimus: "Credis in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem ? Postquam vos credere promisistis, tertiò capita vostra in sacro fonte demersimus. Rectè enim tertiò mersi estis, qui accepistis baptismum in nomine sanctæ Trinitatis. Rectè tertiò mersi estis, qui accepistis baptismum in nomine Jesu Christi, qui die tertia resurrexit a mortuis. Illa enim tertio repetita demersio typum dominicæ exprimit sepulturæ, per quam Christo consepulti estis in baptismo, et cum Christo resurrexistis in fide: ut peccatis abluti in sanctitate virtutum Christum imitando vivatis." (Hom iii. ap. Gratian de Consecrat. distinct. iv. c. lxxviii.) words of the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (vi. 3-5). Juvencus, a Christian poet of the fourth century, paraphrases Matthew iii. 14, in the following manner :— "Deign not be immersed in water by my hands, Since thine own washing can cleanse me better, Said John." + Prudentius, in his Psychomachia, refers to baptism as follows: "Then the immortal tunic, which, with skilful hands, Holy Faith has woven, and which affords an impenetrable covering, she herself gives to those, who, with their bathed chests, are to be born again." § Alcuinus Avitus, Archbishop of Vienna (A.D. 481), says in his hymn De Diluvio Mundi: * Juvencus, a Christian poet, who flourished in the time of Constantine, and wrote a number of poems, all of which are lost, except his Historia Evangelica. This is an account of our Saviour's life and actions, in four books. It is written in hexameters, and closely adheres to the narrative of the Evangelists. It may be seen in the Bibliotheca Patrum. †Tu ne meis manibus digneris mergior undis, Dixit Joannes. Prudentius, a Christian poet of the fourth century, was a native of Spain. His principal works are the Cathemerinon, twelve hymns for daily use; the Apotheosis, a defence of the doctrine of the Trinity; the Hamartigeneia, a work on the origin of evil; the Psychomachia, the triumph of the Christian graces in the soul of the believer; Contra Symmachum, a polemic against the heathen gods; Peri Stephanon, fourteen poems in praise of Spanish and other martyrs and lastly the Diptychon, or forty-eight poems on scriptural incidents and personages. Prudentius has been called the Horace and Virgil of the Christians." 66 § Prudentius: "Post immortalem tunicam, quam pollice docto (Psychomachia, sect. vi.) "Whoever is washed with Christ's baptism is in the ark." Maximus, Bishop of Turin, writes, in his third treatise. on baptism, "Hic in fonte homo mergitur:" Here in the font man is immersed. In his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (lib. ii. c. 14) the Venerable Bede gives the following account of the missionary labours of Paulinus in the North of England. "King Edwin, with all the nobility of the nation and a large number of the people, received the faith and the washing of the holy regeneration, in the eleventh year of his reign, which is the year of the incarnation of our Lord, six hundred and twenty-seven. He was baptized at York, on the holy day of Easter, being the 12th of April, in the church of St. Peter the Apostle, which he himself had built of timber, whilst he was being catechized and instructed in order to receive baptism. So great was then the fervour of the faith, as is reported, and the desire of the washing of salvation among the nation of the Northumbrians, that Paulinus at a certain time coming with the king and queen to the royal villa, called Adgefrin, stayed there with them thirty-six days, fully occupied in catechizing and baptizing; during which days, from morning till night, he did nothing else but instruct the people, resorting from all villages and places, in Christ's saving word; and when instructed, he washed them with the water of absolution in the River Glen.t. These things happened in the province of the Bernicians; but in that of the Deiri also, where he was wont often to be with the king, he baptized in the River Swale, which * Alcuinus: "Quicunque est Christi baptismate lotus in arca." Now called Bowent. |