On Rebaptism

Contents

Reading pages: 1–10 · 11–19

1. 1The anonymous writer states the question whether converts baptized by heretics in Christ's name need only the bishop's laying on of hands or must be baptized again, and defends the ancient custom against the innovators.
2. 2Starting from John the Baptist's promise that Christ would baptize in the Holy Spirit, the writer distinguishes baptism in the Spirit alone, in Spirit and water, and in the Spirit through one's own blood.
3. 3The writer grants that water and Spirit belong together in the church's normal practice, but points out that in the New Testament they are sometimes given separately, as with the Samaritans and the apostles.
4. 4Many are baptized and die without the bishop's laying on of hands, like the Ethiopian eunuch, yet are counted complete believers; so the laying on of hands can likewise complete a baptism given in Christ's name outside the church.
5. 5If only the full rite saved, bishops could never reach every dying believer; and Cornelius's household received the Spirit and forgiveness before water baptism, which then added the invocation of Jesus' name.
6. 6The apostles, baptized yet later failing, received forgiveness through the Spirit at Pentecost; so a baptism in Jesus' name received in error is completed, not repeated, when the convert receives the Spirit through the bishop's hand.
7. 7The command to baptize in the name of the Trinity stands, but the invocation of Jesus' name has power even among outsiders and is a beginning that can later be completed.
8. 8Answering the objection that the disciples were rightly baptized, the writer lists the many signs by which the disciples believed Jesus was the Christ.
9. 9The disciples expected a Messiah who would not die, and Peter, Cleopas, and the rest wavered and disbelieved, yet they had been baptized and were even baptizing others.
10. 10Baptisms given by unworthy or unskilled bishops are not repeated; baptism given outside the church is completed by the bishop's laying on of hands for the Spirit, since there is one baptism and the invocation of Jesus' name cannot be undone.
11. 11A catechumen martyred before baptism is saved by confessing Christ, but a heretic who dies confessing only the name of Christ while believing in another Christ is not.
12. 12The invocation of Jesus' name calls those who bear it to seek the Lord; heretics baptized in that name need only the Spirit, but those who follow another Christ are lost, while anyone who confesses the true Christ under persecution is saved whatever his former state.
13. 13A person is judged by his final state; a heretic martyred for the name of Christ gains nothing, since without love for the true God and Christ confession and suffering are empty.
14. 14Baptism in water and baptism in one's own blood are two kinds of the one baptism, both flowing from Christ's pierced side, and either can suffice; but two baptisms of water would break the rule of one baptism.
15. 15From 1 John's three witnesses, the outpouring of the Spirit, and the Spirit's free action in the Old Testament, the writer concludes that the Spirit may precede, accompany, or follow water baptism, so a baptism in Jesus' name is to be completed, not repeated.
16. 16Heretics descended from Simon Magus claim a perfect baptism in which fire appears on the water, a trick or magic; believers who accept it lose what they had.
17. 17The heretics' forged Preaching of Paul has Christ confess sin, go reluctantly to John's baptism, and see fire on the water; but the fire of which John spoke is the Holy Spirit, as at Pentecost.
18. 18The Spirit, now invisible, was seen at Christ's baptism and at Pentecost; the Gospels show that faith cleanses the heart, the Spirit washes the soul, water the body, and martyrdom reaches salvation soonest.
19. 19The writer sums up his argument from John the Baptist, 1 John, and the Lord's words, and commends the ancient custom to God-fearing and humble people.