On Baptism 17
Summary: Bishops, and under them presbyters and deacons, administer baptism; laymen may do so in necessity, but women may not, and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, which suggests otherwise, is a forgery by a presbyter who was deposed.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Latin text · CSEL 20:214–215
Superest ad concludendam materiolam de obseruatione quoque dandi et accipiendi baptismi commonefacere. dandi quidem habet ius summus sacerdos, qui est episcopus; dehinc presbyteri et diaconi, non tamen sine episcopi auctoritate, propter ecclesiae honorem, quo saluo salua pax est. alioquin etiam laicis ius est. quod enim ex aequo accipitur, ex aequo dari potest. nisi episcopi iam aut presbyteri aut diaconi, uocantur discentes. domini sermo non debet abscondi ab ullo. perinde et baptismus, aeque dei census, ab omnibus exerceri potest. sed quanto magis laicis disciplina uerecundiae et modestiae incumbit, cum ea maioribus competant, ne sibi adsumant dicatum episcopis officium? episcopatus aemulatio schismatum mater est. omnia licere dixit sanctissimus apostolus, sed non omnia expedire. sufficiat scilicet in necessitatibus ut utaris, sicubi aut loci aut temporis aut personae condicio compellit. tunc enim constantia succurrentis excipitur, cum urget circumstantia periclitantis, quoniam reus erit perditi hominis, si supersederit praestare quod libere potuit. petulantia autem mulieris, quae usurpauit docere, utique non etiam tinguendi ius sibi pariet, nisi si quae noua bestia euenerit similis pristinae, ut, quemadmodum illa baptismum auferebat, ita aliqua per se eum conferat. quodsi quae Pauli perperam inscripta sunt exemplum Theclae ad licentiam mulierum docendi tinguendique defendunt, sciant in Asia presbyterum, qui eam scripturam construxit, quasi titulo Pauli de suo cumulans, conuictum atque confessum id se amore Pauli fecisse loco decessisse. quam enim fidei proximum uideretur, ut is docendi et tinguendi daret feminae potestatem qui ne discere quidem constanter mulieri permisit? taceant, inquit, et domi maritos suos consulant.
English · Claude translation
It remains, to conclude this little subject, to call to mind also the rules for giving and receiving baptism. The right of giving it belongs to the high priest, who is the bishop; then to presbyters and deacons, yet not without the bishop's authority, for the honor of the church, which being preserved, peace is preserved. Otherwise, even laymen have the right; for what is received equally can be given equally. Unless bishops, or presbyters, or deacons are already the ones called disciples. The word of the Lord ought not to be hidden by anyone. Likewise baptism too, equally God's property, can be administered by all. But how much more does the discipline of reverence and modesty lie upon laymen, since these things belong to their superiors, that they should not take upon themselves the office dedicated to bishops! Rivalry for the episcopate is the mother of schisms. The most holy apostle said that all things are lawful but not all things are expedient. Let it be enough, then, that you use this right in cases of necessity, wherever the circumstances of place or time or person compel it. For then the boldness of one who comes to help is accepted, when the situation of one in danger presses, since he will be guilty of a man's perdition if he refrains from giving what he freely could. But the impudence of the woman who has usurped the right to teach will certainly not beget for her the right of dipping too, unless some new beast should arise like the former one, so that, just as that one took baptism away, so some woman should confer it by herself. But if those who read the writings wrongly ascribed to Paul put forward the example of Thecla as license for women to teach and to dip, let them know that the presbyter in Asia who composed that writing, as though heaping up the reputation of Paul with something of his own, was convicted, confessed that he had done it out of love for Paul, and was removed from his office. For how credible would it seem that he should give a woman power to teach and dip who did not even permit a woman to learn with confidence? “Let them be silent,” he says, “and consult their husbands at home.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “High priest” renders summus sacerdos. The obscure sentence “Unless bishops … are already the ones called disciples” means that the Lord's commission to his disciples applies to all believers, not only to clergy; its text may be corrupt. The allusions are 1 Cor 10:23 (6:12), Matt 5:15 (echo), and 1 Tim 2:12; the quotation is a paraphrase of 1 Cor 14:34–35. The writing meant is the Acts of Paul, which includes the Acts of Thecla. “Removed from his office” renders loco decessisse, which may mean he resigned.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (broken word in the digital text; stray hyphen in the digital text): maioribus- competant → maioribus competant; super-. sederit → supersederit.
Cite this passage
Tertullian, Bapt. 17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-baptismo/17/).
Plain text
Tertullian, Bapt. 17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-baptismo/17/).
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