Chapter 21.—29. But as to what he says, that "he who comes to the Church is to be baptized and renewed, that within he may be hallowed through the holy,"1529
what will he do, if within also he meets with those who are not holy? Or can it be that the murderer is holy? And if the reason for his being
baptized in the
Church is that "he should put off this very thing also that he, being a man that sought to come to
God, fell, through the
deceit of error, on one
profane,"
1530
where is he afterwards to put off this, that he may chance, while seeking a man of
God within the
Church itself, to have fallen, through the
deceit of error, on a murderer? If "there cannot be in a man something that is
void and something that is valid,"
1531
why is it possible that in a murderer the sacrament should be holy and his
heart unholy? If "whosoever cannot give the
Holy Spirit cannot
baptize,"
1532
why does the murderer
baptize within the
Church? Or how has the murderer the
Holy Spirit, when every one that has the
Holy Spirit is filled with
light, but "he who
hates his
brother is still in
darkness?"
1533
If because "there is one
baptism, and one Spirit,"
1534
therefore they cannot have the one
baptism who have not the one Spirit, why do the
innocent man and the murderer within the
Church have the one
baptism and not have the one Spirit? So therefore the heretic and the Catholic may have the one
baptism, and yet not have the one
Church, as in the Catholic
Church the
innocent man and the murderer may have the one
baptism, though they have not the one Spirit; for as there is one
baptism, so there is one Spirit and one
Church.
And so the result is, that in each person we must acknowledge what he already has, and to each person we must give what he has not. If "nothing can be confirmed and ratified with
God which has been done by those whom
God calls His
enemies and foes,"
1535
why is the
baptism confirmed which is given by murderers? Are we not to call murderers the
enemies and foes of the
Lord? But "he that hateth his
brother is a murderer." How then did they
baptize who
hated Paul, the
servant of
Jesus Christ, and thereby
hated Jesus Himself, since He Himself said to
Saul, "Why persecutest thou me?"
1536
when he was persecuting His
servants, and since at the last He Himself shall say, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these that are mine, ye did it not to me?"
1537
Wherefore all who go out from us are not of us, but not all who are with us are of us; just as when men thresh, all that
flies from the threshing-floor is shown not to be corn, but not all that remains there is therefore corn. And so John too says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us."
1538
Wherefore
God gives the sacrament of
grace even through the
hands of
wicked men, but the
grace itself only by Himself or through His
saints. And therefore He gives
remission of
sins either of Himself, or through the members of that
dove to whom He says, "Whosesoever
sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever
sins ye retain, they are retained."
1539
But since no one can doubt that
baptism, which is the sacrament of the
remission of
sins, is
possessed even by murderers, who are yet in
darkness because the
hatred of their
brethren is not excluded from their
hearts, therefore either no
remission of
sins is given to them if their
baptism is accompanied by no change of
heart for the better, or if the
sins are remitted, they at once return on them again. And we learn that the baptism is holy in itself, because it is of
God; and whether it be given or whether it be received by men of such like character, it cannot be polluted by any perversity of theirs, either within, or yet outside the Church.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
