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1. We have arrived, as the Lord has willed it, to the day of our
promise. He will grant this also, that we may arrive at the
fulfillment of the promise. For then those things which we say, if
they are useful to us and to you, are from Him; but those things
which proceed from man are false, as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
has said, "He that speaketh a lie speaketh of his own." No one has
anything of his own except falsehood and sin. But if man has any truth
and justice, it is from that fountain after which we ought to thirst in
this desert, so that being, as it were, bedewed by some drops from
it, and comforted in the meantime in this pilgrimage, we may not fail
by the way, but reach His rest and satisfying fullness. If then "he
that speaketh a lie speaketh of his own," he who speaketh the truth
speaketh of God. John is true, Christ is the Truth; John is
true, but every true man is true from the Truth. If, then, John
is true, and a man cannot be true except from the Truth, from whom
was he true, unless from Him who said, "I am the truth"? The
Truth, then, could not speak contrary to the true man, or the true
man contrary to the Truth. The Truth sent the true man, and he was
true because sent by the Truth. If it was the Truth that sent
John, then it was Christ that sent him. But that which Christ does
with the Father, the Father does; and what the Father does with
Christ, Christ does. The Father does nothing apart from the Son,
nor the Son anything apart from the Father: inseparable love,
inseparable unity: inseparable majesty, inseparable power, according
to these words which He Himself propounded," I and my Father are
one." Who then sent John? If we say the Father, we speak truly;
if we say the Son, we speak truly; but to speak more plainly, we say
the Father and the Son. But whom the Father and the Son sent, one
God sent; because the Son said, "I and the Father are one."
How, then, did he not know Him by whom he was sent? For he said,
"I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me." I interrogate John: "Who sent thee to baptize
with water? what did He say to thee?' "Upon whom thou shalt see
the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon Him, the same is
He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Is it this, O John,
that He said to thee who sent thee? It is manifest that it was this;
who, then, sent thee? Perhaps the Father. True God is the
Father, and the Truth is God the Son: if the Father without the
Son sent thee, God without the Truth sent thee; but if thou art
true, because thou dost speak the truth, and dost, speak of the
Truth, the Father did not send thee without the Son, but the
Father and the Son together sent thee. If, then, the Son sent
thee with the Father, how didst thou not know Him by whom thou wast
sent? He whom thou hadst seen in the Truth, Himself sent thee that
He might be recognized in the flesh, and said, "Upon whom thou
shalt see the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon Him, the
same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.'
2. Did John hear this that he might know Him whom he had not
known, or that he might more fully know Him whom he had already
known? For if he had been entirely ignorant of Him, he would not
have said to Him when He came to the river to be baptized, "I have
need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" He knew Him
therefore. But when did the dove descend? When the Lord had been
baptized, and was ascending from the water. But if He who sent Him
said, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending as a dove,
and abiding upon Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy
Ghost," and he knew Him not, but when the dove descended he learned
to know Him, and the time at which the dove descended was when the
Lord was going up from the water; but John had known the Lord, when
the Lord came to him to the water: it is made plain to us that John
after a manner knew, and after a manner did not at first know the
Lord. And unless we understand it so, he was a liar. How was he
true acknowledging the Lord and saying, "Comest Thou to me to be
baptized," and, "I have need to be baptized of Thee"? Is he
true when he said this? And how is he again true when he saith, "I
knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same
said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending as a
dove, and abiding upon Him, the same is He who baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost"? The Lord was made known by a dove, not to him who
knew Him not, but to him who in a manner knew Him, and in a manner
knew Him not. It is for us to discover what, in Him, John did not
know, and learned by the dove.
3. Why was John sent baptizing? Already, I recollect, I have
explained that to you, beloved, according to my ability. For if the
baptism of John was necessary for our salvation, it ought even now to
be used. For we cannot think that men are not saved now, or that more
are not saved now, or that there was one salvation then, another now.
If Christ has been changed, the salvation has also been changed; if
salvation is in Christ, and Christ Himself is the same, there is
the same salvation to us. But why was John sent baptizing? Because
it behoved Christ to be baptized. Wherefore did it behove Christ to
be baptized?
Wherefore did it behove Christ to be born? Wherefore did it behove
Christ to be crucified? For if He had come to point out the way of
humility, and to make Himself the way of humility; in all things had
humility to be fulfilled by Him. He deigned from this to give
authority to His own baptism, that His servants might know with what
alacrity they ought to run to the baptism of the Lord, when He
Himself did not refuse to receive the baptism of a servant. This
favor was bestowed upon John that it should be called his baptism.
4. Give heed to this, exercise your discrimination, and know it,
beloved. The baptism which John received is called the baptism of
John: alone he received such a gift. No one of the just before him
and no one after him so received a baptism that it should be called his
baptism. He received it indeed, for of himself he could do nothing:
for if any one speaketh of his own, he speaketh of his own a lie. And
whence did he receive it except from the Lord Jesus Christ? From
Him he received power to baptize whom he afterwards baptized. Do not
marvel; for Christ acted in the same manner in respect to John as in
respect to His mother. For concerning Christ it was said, "All
things were made by Him." If all things were made by him, Mary
also was made by Him, of whom Christ was afterwards born. Give
heed, beloved; in the same manner that He did create Mary. and was
created by Mary, so did He give the baptism of John, and was
baptized by John.
5. For this purpose therefore did He receive baptism from John, in
order that, receiving what was inferior from an inferior, He might
exhort inferiors to receive that which was superior. But wherefore was
not He alone baptized by John, if John, by whom Christ was
baptized, was sent for this end, to prepare a way for the Lord, that
is, for Christ Himself? This we have already explained, but we
recur to it, because it is necessary for the present question. If our
Lord Jesus Christ had been alone baptized with the baptism of John;
hold fast what we say; let not the world have such power as to efface
from your hearts what the Spirit of God has written there; let not
the thorns of care have such power as to choke the seed which is being
sown in you: for why are we compelled to repeat the same things, but
because we are not sure of the memory of your hearts? and if then the
Lord alone had been baptized with the baptism of John, there would be
persons who would so reckon it, that the baptism of John was greater
than is the baptism of Christ. For they would say, that baptism is
so much the greater, that Christ alone deserved to be baptized with
it. Therefore, that an example of humility might be given us by the
Lord, that the salvation of baptism might be obtained by us, Christ
accepted what for Him was not necessary, but on our account was
necessary. And again, lest that which Christ received from John
should be preferred to the baptism of Christ, others also were
permitted to be baptized by John. But for those who were baptized by
John that baptism did not suffice: for they were baptized with the
baptism of Christ; because the baptism of John was not the baptism of
Christ. Those who receive the baptism of Christ do not seek the
baptism of John; those who received the baptism of John sought the
baptism of Christ. Therefore was the baptism of John sufficient for
Christ. How should it not be sufficient, when not even it was
necessary? For to Him was no baptism necessary; but in order to
exhort us to receive His baptism, He received the baptism of His
servant. And lest the baptism of the servant should be preferred to
the baptism of the Lord, other fellow-servants were baptized with the
baptism of the servant. But it behoved those fellow-servants who were
baptized with that baptism to be likewise baptized with the baptism of
the Lord: but those who were baptized with the baptism of the Lord do
not require the baptism of the fellow-servant.
6. Since, then, John had accepted a baptism which may be properly
called the baptism of John, but the Lord Jesus Christ would not
give His baptism to any, not that no one should be baptized with the
baptism of the Lord, but that the Lord Himself should always
baptize: that was done, that the Lord should baptize by means of
servants; that is to say, those whom the servants of the Lord were to
baptize, the Lord baptized, not they. For it is one thing to
baptize in the capacity of a servant, another thing to baptize with
power. For baptism derives its character from Him through whose power
it is given; not from him through whose ministry it is given. As was
John, so was his baptism: the righteous baptism of a righteous man;
but of a man who had received from the Lord that grace, and so great
grace, that he was worthy to be the forerunner of the Judge, and to
point Him out with the finger, and to fulfill the saying of that
prophecy: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye
the way for the Lord." As was the Lord, such was His baptism:
the baptism of the Lord, then, was divine, because the Lord was
God.
7. But the Lord Jesus Christ could, if He wished, have given
power to one of His servants to give a baptism of his own, as it
were, in His stead, and have transferred from Himself the power of
baptizing, and assigned it to one of His servants, and have given the
same power to the baptism transferred to the servant as it had when
bestowed by the Lord. This He would not do, in order that the hope
of the baptized might be in him by whom they acknowledged themselves to
have been baptized. He would not, therefore, that the servant should
place his hope in the servant. And therefore the apostle exclaimed,
when he saw men wishing to place their hope in himself, "Was Paul
crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" Paul
then baptized as a servant, not as the power itself; but the Lord
baptized as the power. Give heed. He was both able to give this
power to His servants, and unwilling. For if He had given this
power to His servants that is to say, that what belonged to the Lord
should be theirs there would have been as many baptisms as servants; so
that, as we speak of the baptism of John, we should also have spoken
of the baptism of Peter, the baptism of Paul, the baptism of
James, the baptism of Thomas, of Matthew, of Bartholomew: for we
spoke of that baptism as that of John. But perhaps some one objects,
and says, Prove to us that that baptism was called the baptism of
John. I will prove it from the very words of the Truth Himself,
when He asked the Jews, "The baptism of John, whence was it?
from heaven, or of men?" Therefore, lest as many baptisms should be
spoken of as there are servants who received power from the Lord to
baptize, the Lord kept to Himself the power of baptizing, and gave
to His servants the ministry. The servant says that he baptizes; he
says so rightly, as the apostle says. "And I baptized also the
household of Stephanas;" but as a servant. Therefore, if even he
be bad, and he happen to have the ministration of baptism, and if men
do not know him, but God knows him, God, who has kept the power to
Himself, permits baptism to be administered through him.
8. But this John did not know in the Lord. That He was the Lord
he knew, and that he ought to be baptized by Him he knew; and he
confessed that He was the Truth, and that he, the true man, was
sent by the Truth: this he knew. But what was in Him which he knew
not? That he was about to retain to Himself the power of His
baptism, and was not to transmit or transfer it to any servant; but
that, whether a good servant baptized in a ministerial manner, or
whether an evil servant baptized, the person baptized should not know
that he was baptized, unless by Him who kept to Himself the power of
baptizing. And that you may know, brethren, what john did not know
in Him, he learned it by means of the dove: for he knew the Lord;
but that He was to retain to Himself the power of baptizing, and not
to give it to any servant, he did not yet know. Regarding this he
said, "I knew Him not." And that you may know that he there
learnt this, give heed to what follows: "But He that sent me to
baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see
the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon Him, the same is
He." What same is He? The Lord? But he already knew the
Lord. Suppose, then, that John had said thus far, "I knew Him
not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me
" We ask, what He said? It follows: "Upon whom thou shall see
the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon Him." I do not
say what follows. In the meantime give heed: "Upon whom thou shalt
see the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon Him, the same
is He." But what same is He? What did He who sent me mean to
teach me by means of a dove? That He was Himself the Lord.
Already I knew by whom I was sent; already I knew Him to whom I
said, "Comest Thou to me to be baptized? I have need to be
baptized of Thee." So far, then, did I know the Lord, that I
wished to be baptized by Him, not that He should be baptized by me;
and then He said to me, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." I came to suffer; do I
not come to be baptized? "Let all righteousness be fulfilled," says
my God to me. Let all righteousness be fulfilled; let me teach
entire humility. I know that there will be proud ones in my future
people; I know that some men then will be eminent in some grace, so
that when they see ordinary persons baptized, they, because they
consider themselves better, whether in continence, or in
alms-giving, or in doctrine, will perhaps not deign to receive what
has been received by their inferiors. It was needful that I should
heal them, so that they should not disdain to come to the baptism of
the Lord, because I came to the baptism of the servant.
9. Already, then, John knew this, and he knew the Lord. What
then did the dove teach? What did He desire to teach by means of the
dove that is, by means of the Holy Spirit thus coming to teach who
had sent him to whom He said, "Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit
descending as a dove, and abiding upon Him, the same is He"? Who
is this He? The Lord? I know. But didst thou already know this,
that the same Lord having the power to baptize, was not to give that
power to any servant, but to retain it to Himself, so that all who
were baptized by the ministration of the servant, should not impute
their baptism to the servant, but to the Lord? Didst thou already
know this? I did not know this: so what did He say to me? "Upon
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon
Him, the same is He who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." He does
not say, "He is the Lord;" He does not say, "He is the
Christ;" He does not say, "He is God;" He does not say,
"He is Jesus;" He does not say, "He is the One who was born of
the Virgin Mary, after thee, before thee." This He does not
say, for this John did already know. But what did he not know?
That this great authority of baptism the Lord Himself was to have,
and to retain to Himself, whether present in the earth or absent in
body in the heaven, and present in majesty; lest Paul should say, my
baptism; lest Peter should say, my baptism. Therefore see, give
heed to the words of the apostles. None of the apostles said, my
baptism. Although there was one gospel of all, yet thou findest that
they said, my gospel: thou dost not find that they say, my baptism.
10. This, then, my brethren, John learned. What John learned
by means of the dove let us also learn. For the dove did not teach
John without teaching the Church, the Church to which it was said,
"My dove is one." Let the dove teach the dove; let the dove know
what John learned by the dove. The Holy Spirit descended in the
form of a dove. But this which John learned in the dove, wherefore
did he learn it in the dove? For it behoved him to learn, and perhaps
it did not so, much behove him to learn as to learn by the dove. What
shall I say, my brethren, concerning the dove? or when will faculty
of tongue or heart suffice to speak as I wish? And perchance, my
wish falls short of my duty in speaking; even if I were able to speak
as I wish, how much less am I able to speak as I ought? I could
wish to hear one better than myself speak this, rather than speak of it
to you.
11. John learns to know Him whom he knew; but he learns in Him
with regard to what he did not know; with regard to what he did know,
he does not learn. And what did he know? The Lord. What did he
not know? That the power of the Lord's baptism was not to pass from
the Lord to any man, but that the ministration of it plainly would do
so; the power from the Lord to no one, the ministration both to good
and bad. Let not the dove shrink from the ministration of the bad,
but have regard to the power of the Lord. What injury does a bad
servant do to you where the Lord is good? What impediment can the
malicious herald put in your way if the judge is well-disposed? John
learned by means of the dove this. What is it that he learned? Let
him repeat it himself. "The same said unto me," saith he, "Upon
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding on
Him, this is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Let not
those seducers deceive thee, O dove, who say, We baptize.
Acknowledge, dove, what the dove has taught: "This is He which
baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." By means of the dove we are taught
that this is He; and dost thou think that thou art baptized by his
authority by whose ministration thou art baptized? If thou thinkest
this, thou art not as yet in the body of the dove; and if thou art not
in the body of the dove, it is not to be wondered at that thou hast not
simplicity; for by means of the dove, simplicity is chiefly
designated.
12. Wherefore, my brethren, by the simplicity of the dove did
John learn that "This is He which baptizeth with the Holy
Ghost," unless to show that these are not doves who have scattered
the Church? Hawks they were, and kites. The dove does not tear.
And thou seest that they hold us up to hatred, for the persecutions,
as they call them, which they have suffered. Bodily persecutions,
indeed, if they are to be so called, they have suffered, since these
were the scourges of the Lord, plainly administering temporal
correction, lest He should have to condemn them eternally, if they
did not acknowledge it and amend themselves. They truly persecute the
Church who persecute by means of deceit; they strike the heart more
heavily who strike with the sword of the tongue; they shed blood more
bitterly who, as far as they can, slay Christ in man. They seem to
be in fear, as it were, of the judgment of the authorities. What
does the authority do to thee if thou art good? but if thou art evil,
fear the authority; "For he beareth not the sword in vain," saith
the apostle. Draw not the sword wherewith thou dost strike Christ.
Christian, what dost thou persecute in a Christian? What did the
Emperor persecute in thee? He persecuted the flesh; thou in a
Christian persecutest the Spirit. Thou dost not slay the flesh.
And, nevertheless, they do not spare the flesh; as many as they were
able, they slew with the sword; they spared neither their own nor
strangers. This is known to all. The authority is hated because it
is legitimate; he acts in a hated manner who acts according to the
law; he acts without incurring hatred who acts contrary to the laws.
Give heed, each one of you, my brethren, to what the Christian
possesses. His humanity he has in common with many, his Christianity
distinguishes him from many, and his Christianity belongs to him more
strictly than his humanity. For, as a Christian, he is renewed
after the image of God, by whom man was made after the image of God;
but as a man he might be bad, he might be a pagan, he might be an
idolater. This thou dost persecute in the Christian, which is his
better part; for this by which he lives thou wishest to take away from
him. For he lives temporarily according to the spirit of life, by
which his body is animated, but he lives for eternity according to the
baptism which he received from the Lord; thou wishest to take this
away from him which he received from the Lord, this thou wishest to
take away from him by which he lives. Robbers, with regard to those
whom they wish to despoil, have the purpose to enrich themselves and to
deprive their victims of all that they have; but thou takest from him,
and with thee there will not be anything more, for there does not
accrue more to thee because thou takest from him. But, truly, they
do the same as those who take away the natural life: they take it away
from another, and yet they themselves have not two lives.
13. What, then, dost thou wish to take away? What displeases
thee in the man whom thou wishest to rebaptize? Thou art not able to
give what he already has, but thou makest him deny what he has. What
greater cruelty did the pagan persecutor of the Church commit? Swords
were stretched out against the martyrs, wild beasts were let loose,
fires were applied: for what purpose these things? In order that the
sufferer might be induced to say, I am not a Christian. What dost
thou teach him whom thou wishest to rebaptize, unless that he first
say, I am not a Christian? For the same purpose for which the
persecutor put forth the flame, thou puttest forth the tongue; thou
dost by seducing what he did not do by slaying. And what is it thou
dost give, and to whom art thou to give it? If he tells thee the
truth, and does not lie, seduced by thee, he will say, I have.
Thou askest, Hast thou baptism? I have, he says. As long as he
says, I have, thou sayest, I will not give. And do not give, for
that which thou wishest to give cannot cleave to me; because what I
received cannot be taken away from me. But wait, nevertheless; let
me see what thou wouldest teach me. Say, he said, in the first
place, I have not. But this I have; if I shall say, I have
not, I lie; for what I have I have. Thou hast not, he says.
Teach me that I have it not. An evil man gave it to thee. If
Christ is evil, an evil man did give it to me. Christ, he says, is
not evil; but Christ did not give it to thee. Who then gave it to
me? Reply, I know that I received it from Christ. He who gave it
to thee, he says, was not Christ, but some traditor. I shall see
to it who was the minister; I shall see who was the herald.
Concerning the official, I do not dispute; I give heed to the
Judge: and, perchance, in thy objection to the official, thou
speakest falsely. But I decline to discuss it; let the Lord of both
decide the cause of His own official. If, perhaps, I were to ask
for proof, thou couldst give none; indeed, thou liest; it has been
proved that thou wert not able to give proof. But I do not place my
case on this, lest from my zealous defense of innocent men thou infer
that I have placed my hope even on innocent men. Let the men be
what. they may, I received from Christ, I was baptized by
Christ. No, he says; not Christ, but that bishop baptized thee,
and that bishop communicates to them. By Christ I have been
baptized, I know. How dost thou know? The dove taught me, which
John saw. O evil kite, thou mayest not tear me from the bowels of
the dove. I am numbered among the members of the dove, because what
the dove taught, this I know. Thou sayest to me, This man or that
baptized thee: by means of the dove it is said to me and to thee,
"This is He which baptizeth." Which shall I believe, the kite or
the dove?
14. Tell me certainly, that thou mayest be confounded by that lamp
by which also were the former enemies confounded, who were like to
thee, the Pharisees, who, when they questioned the Lord by what
authority He did those things: "I also," said He, "will ask you
this question, Tell me, the baptism of John, whence is it? from
heaven, or of men?" And they, who were preparing to spread their
wiles, were entangled by the question, and began to debate with
themselves, and say, "If we shall answer, It is from heaven, He
will say unto us, Wherefore did ye not believe him?" For John had
said of the Lord, "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the
sin of the world!" Why then do you inquire by what authority I act?
O wolves, what I do, I do by the authority of the Lamb. But that
you may know the Lamb, why do you not believe John, who said,
"Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world"?
They, then, knowing what John had said regarding the Lord, said
among themselves, "If we shall say that John's baptism is from
heaven, He will say unto us, Wherefore then did ye not believe him?
If we shall say, It is of men, the people will stone us; for they
hold John as a prophet." Hence, they feared men; hence, they were
confounded to confess the truth. Darkness replied with darkness; but
they were overcome by the light. For what did they reply? "We know
not;" regarding that which they knew, they said, "We know not."
And the Lord said, "Neither tell I you by what authority I do
these things." And the first enemies were confounded. How? By the
lamp. Who was the lamp? John. Can we prove that he was the lamp?
We can prove it; for the Lord says: "He was a burning and a
shining lamp." Can we prove also that the enemies were confounded by
him? Listen to the psalm: "I have prepared," he says, "a lamp
for my Christ. His enemies I will clothe with shame."
15. As yet, in the darkness of this life, we walk by the lamp of
faith: let us hold also to the lamp John, and let us confound by him
the enemies of Christ; indeed, let Christ Himself confound His own
enemies by His own lamp. Let us put the question which the Lord put
to the Jews, let us ask and say, "The baptism of John, whence is
it? from heaven, or of men?" What will they say? Mark, if they
are not as enemies confounded by the lamp. What will they say? If
they shall say, Of men, even their own will stone them; but if they
shall say, From heaven, let us say to them, Wherefore, then, did
ye not believe him? They perhaps say, We believe him. Wherefore,
then, do you say that you baptize, when John says, "This is He
which baptizeth"? But it behoveth, they say, the ministers of so
great a Judge who baptize, to be righteous. And I also say, and
all say, that it behoveth the ministers of so great a Judge to be
righteous; let the ministers, by all means, be righteous if they
will; but if they will not be righteous who sit in the seat of Moses,
my Master made me safe, of whom His Spirit said, "This is He
which baptizeth."
How did He make me safe? "The scribes and the Pharisees," He
says, "sit in Moses' seat: what they say, do; but what they do,
that do not ye: for they say, and do not." If the minister is
righteous, I reckon him with Paul, I reckon him with Peter; with
those I reckon righteous ministers: because, in truth, righteous
ministers seek not their own glory; for they are ministers, they do
not wish to be thought judges, they abhor that one should place his
hope on them; therefore, I reckon the righteous minister with Paul.
For what does Paul say? "I have planted, Apollos watered; but
God gave the increase.
Neither is he that planteth anything, nor he that watereth; but God
who giveth the increase." But he who is a proud minister is reckoned
with the devil; but the gift of Christ is not contaminated, which
flows through him pure, which passes through him liquid, and comes to
the fertile earth. Suppose that he is stony, that he cannot from
water rear fruit; even through the stony channel the water passes, the
water passes to the garden beds; in the stony channel it causes nothing
to grow, but nevertheless it brings much fruit to the gardens. For
the spiritual virtue of the sacrament is like the light: both by those
who are to be enlightened is it received pure, and if it passes through
the impure it is not stained. Let the ministers be by all means
righteous, and seek not their own glory, but His glory whose
ministers they are; let them not say, The baptism is mine; for it is
not theirs. Let them give heed unto John. Behold, John was full
of the Holy Spirit; and he had his baptism from heaven, not from
men; but how long had he it? He said himself, "Prepare ye the way
for the Lord." But when the Lord was known, Himself became the
way; there was no longer need for the baptism of John to prepare the
way for the Lord.
16. What, however, are they accustomed to say against us?
"Behold, after John, baptism was given." For before that
question was properly treated in the Catholic Church, many erred in
it, both great and good men; but because they were members of the
dove, they did not cut themselves off, and in their case that happened
which the apostle said, "If in any thing ye are otherwise minded,
God shall reveal even this unto you." Whence those who separated
themselves became unteachable. What then are they wont to say?
Behold, after John baptism was given; after heretical baptism is it
not to be given? because certain who had the baptism of John were
commanded by Paul to be baptized, for they had not the baptism of
Christ. Why then, say they, dost thou exaggerate the merit of
John, and, as it were, underrate the misery of heretics? I also
grant to you that the heretics are wicked; but the heretics gave the
baptism of Christ, which baptism John did not give.
17. I go back to John, and say, "This is he which baptizeth."
For John is better than a heretic, just as John is better than a
drunkard, as John is better than a murderer. If we ought to baptize
after the worse because the apostles baptized after the better,
whosoever among them were baptized by a drunkard, I do not say by a
murderer. I do not say by the satellite of some wicked man, I do not
say by the robber of other men's goods, I do not say by the oppressor
of orphans, or a separater of married persons; I speak of none of
these; I speak of what happens every year, of what happens every
day; I speak of what all are called to, even in this city, when it
is said to them, Let us play the part of the irrational, let us have
pleasure, and on such a day as this of the calends of January we ought
not to fast: these are the things I speak of, these trifling everyday
proceedings; when one is baptized by a drunkard, who is better? John
or the drunkard? Reply, if thou canst, that the drunkard is better
than John! This thou wilt never venture to do. Do you then, as a
sober man, baptize after thy drunkard. For if the apostles baptized
after John, how much more ought the sober to baptize after the
drunkard? Or dost thou say, the drunkard is in unity with me? Was
not John then, the friend of the Bridegroom, in unity with the
Bridegroom?
18. But I say to thee thyself, whoever thou art, Art thou better
than John? Thou wilt not venture to say: I am better than John.
Then let thine own baptize after thee if they are better. For if
baptism was administered after John, blush that baptism is not
administered after thee. Thou wilt say, But I have and teach the
baptism of Christ. Acknowledge, then, now the Judge, and do not
be a proud herald. Thou givest the baptism of Christ, therefore
baptism is not administered after thee: after John it was
administered, because he gave not the baptism of Christ, but his
own; for he had in such manner received it that it was his own. Thou
art then not better than John: but the baptism given through thee is
better than that of John; for the one is Christ's, but the other is
that of John. And that which was given by Paul, and that which was
given by Peter, is Christ's; and if baptism was given by Judas it
was Christ's. Judas gave baptism and after Judas baptism was not
repeated; John gave baptism, and baptism was repeated after John:
because if baptism was given by Judas, it was the baptism of Christ;
but that which was given by John, was John's baptism. We prefer
not Judas to John; but the baptism of Christ, even when given by
the hand of Judas, we prefer to the baptism of John, rightly given
even by the hand of John. For it was said of the Lord before He
suffered, that He baptized more than John; then it was added:
"Howbeit, Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples." He,
and not He: He by power, they by ministry; they performed the
service of baptizing, the power of baptizing remained in Christ. His
disciples, then, baptized, and Judas was still among his disciples:
and were those, then, whom Judas baptized not again baptized; and
those whom John baptized were they again baptized? Plainly there was
a repetition, but not a repetition of the same baptism. For those
whom John baptized, John baptized; those whom Judas baptized,
Christ baptized. In like manner, then, they whom a drunkard
baptized, those whom a murderer baptized, those whom an adulterer
baptized, if it was the baptism of Christ, were baptized by Christ.
I do not fear the adulterer, the drunkard, or the murderer, because
I give heed unto the dove, through whom it is said to me, "This is
He which baptizeth."
19. But, my brethren, it is madness to say that I will not say
Judas but that any man was better than he of whom it was said, that
"Among those that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater
than John the Baptist." No servant then is preferred to him; but
the baptism of the Lord, even when given through an evil servant, is
preferred to the baptism even of a servant who was a friend. Listen to
the sort of persons whom the Apostle Paul mentions, false brethren,
preaching the word of God through envy, and what he says of them:
"And I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." They
proclaimed Christ, through envy indeed, but still they proclaimed
Christ. Consider not the why, but the whom: through envy is Christ
preached to thee. Behold Christ, avoid envy. Do not imitate the
evil preacher, but imitate the Good One who is preached to thee.
Christ then was preached by some out of envy. And what is envy? A
shocking evil. By this evil was the devil cast down; this malignant
pest it was which cast him down; and certain preachers of Christ were
possessed by it, whom, nevertheless, the apostle permitted to
preach. Wherefore? Because they preached Christ But he who
envies, hates; and he who hates, what is said concerning him?
Listen to the Apostle John: "He who hateth his brother is a
murderer." Behold, after John baptism was given, after a murderer
baptism was not given; because John gave his own baptism, the
murderer gave the baptism of Christ. That sacrament is so sacred that
not even the ministration of a murderer pollutes it.
20. I do not reject John, but rather I believe John. In what
do I believe John? In that which he learned through the dove? What
did he learn through the dove? "This is He which baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost." Now therefore, brethren, hold this fast and impress
it upon your hearts; for if I would more fully explain today,
Wherefore through the dove? time fails. For I have, I think, to
some extent made plain to you, holy brethren, that a matter which had
to be learned was instilled into John by means of the dove, a matter
with regard to Christ which John did not know, although he already
knew Christ; but why it behoved this matter to be pointed out by means
of the dove, I would say, were it possible to say it briefly: but
because it would take long to say, and I am unwilling to burden you,
since I have been helped by your prayers to perform my promise; with
the renewed help of your pious attention and good wishes, it will
likewise become clear to you, wherefore John with regard to that
matter which he learned regarding the Lord, namely, that it is "He
which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost," and that to none of His
servants had he transferred the power of baptizing why this it became
him not to learn except through the dove.
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