Chapter 14.—19. But which is the worse, not to be baptized at all, or to be twice baptized, it is difficult to decide. I see, indeed, which is more repugnant and abhorrent to men’s feelings; but when I have recourse to that divine balance, in which the weight of things is determined, not by man’s feelings, but by the authority of God, I find a statement by our Lord on either side. For He said to Peter, "He
who is washed has no need of washing a second time;"1261
| 1261 John xiii. 10. "Qui lotus est, non habet necessitatem iterum lavandi." The Latin, with the A.V., loses the distinction between ὁ λελουμένος, "he that has bathed," and νίπτειν, "to wash:" and further wrongfully introduces the idea of repetition.
|
and to
Nicodemus, "Except a man be
born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of
God."
1262
What is the purport of the more
secret determination of
God, it is perhaps difficult for men like us to
learn; but as
far as the mere words are concerned, any one may see what a difference there is between "has no need of washing," and "cannot enter into the
kingdom of
heaven." The
Church, lastly, herself holds as her
tradition, that without
baptism she cannot admit a man to her
altar at all; but since it is allowed that one who has been rebaptized may be admitted after
penance, surely this plainly
proves that his
baptism is considered valid. If, therefore, Cyprian thought that those whom he considered to be unbaptized yet had some share in pardon, in
virtue of the
bond of
unity, the
Lord has
power to be
reconciled even to the rebaptized by means of the simple
bond of
unity and
peace, and by this same compensating
power of
peace to mitigate His displeasure against those by whom they were rebaptized, and to pardon all the errors which they had
committed while
in error, on their offering the
sacrifice of
charity, which covereth the multitude of
sins; so that He looks not to the number of those who have been
wounded by their separation, but to the greater number who have been
delivered from
bondage by their return. For in the same
bond of
peace in which Cyprian conceived that, through the
mercy of
God, those whom he considered to have been admitted to the
Church without
baptism, were yet not severed from the
gifts of the Church, we also believe that
through the same mercy of God the rebaptized can earn their pardon at His hands.
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