Chapter 47.—109. Petilianus said: "But the same Psalmist has sung the praises of our baptism. ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in the green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,’—though the persecutor, he means,
should slay me,—‘I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me.’ It was by this that it conquered Goliath, being armed with the anointing oil. ‘Thou hast prepared a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’"2127
110. Augustin answered: This psalm speaks of those who receive baptism aright, and use as holy what is so holy. For those words have no reference even to Simon Magus, who yet received the same holy baptism; and because he would not use it in a holy way, he did not therefore pollute it, or show that in such cases it should be repeated. But since you have made mention of Goliath, listen to the psalm which treats of Goliath himself, and
see that he is portrayed in a new song; for there it is said, "I will sing a new song unto Thee, O God: upon a psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings, will I sing praise unto Thee."2128
And see whether he
belongs to this
song who refuses to communicate with the whole
earth. For elsewhere it is said, "O
sing unto the
Lord a new
song;
sing unto the
Lord, all the
earth."
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Therefore the whole
earth, with whom you are not in
unity,
sings the new
song. And these too are the words of the whole
earth, "The
Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want," etc. These are not the words of the tares, though they be
endured until the
harvest in the same crop. They are not the words of the
chaff, but of the
wheat, although they are nourished by one and the same rain, and are threshed out on the same threshing-floor at the same
time, till they shall be separated the one from the other by the winnowing at the last day. And yet these both assuredly have the same
baptism, though they are not the same themselves. But if your party also were the
Church of
God, you would certainly confess that this psalm has no application to the infuriated
bands of the Circumcelliones. Or if they too themselves are led through the paths of
righteousness, why do you deny that they are your associates, when you are
reproached with them,
although, for the most part, you console yourselves for the scantiness of your section, not by the
rod and
staff of the
Lord, but by the cudgels of the Circumcelliones, with which you think that you are
safe even against the
Roman laws,—to bring oneself into collision with which is surely nothing less than to
walk through the
valley of the
shadow of
death? But he with whom the
Lord is,
fears no evils. Surely, however, you will not venture to say that the words which are
sung in this
song
belong even to those infuriated men, and yet you not only acknowledge, but ostentatiously set forth the fact that they have
baptism. These words, therefore, are not used by any who are not refreshed by the holy
water, as are all the
righteous men of
God; not by those who are brought to
destruction by using it, as was that magician when
baptized by
Philip: and yet the
water itself in both kinds of men is the same, and of the same degree of sanctity. These words are not used except by those
who will
belong to the right
hand; but yet both
sheep and
goats feed in the same
pasture under one
Shepherd, until they shall be separated, that they may receive their due
reward. These words are not used except by those who, like Peter, receive
life from the
table of the
Lord, not
judgment, as did
Judas; and yet the
supper was itself the same to both, but it was not of the same
profit to both, because they were not one. These words are not used except by those who, by being
anointed with the
sacred oil, are
blessed in spirit also, as was
David; not merely
consecrated in the body only, as was
Saul: and yet, as they had both received the same outward sign, it was not the sacrament, but the personal merit that was different in the two cases. These words are not used except by those who, with
converted heart, receive the
cup of the
Lord unto
eternal life; not by those who eat and drink
damnation to themselves, as the
apostle says:
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and yet, though they are not one, the
cup which they receive is one, exerting its
power on the martyrs that they should obtain a heavenly
reward, not on the Circumcelliones, that they should mark precipices with
death. Remember, therefore, that the characters of bad men in no
wise interfere with the
virtue of the sacraments, so that their
holiness should either be
destroyed, or even diminished; but that they
injure the
unrighteous men themselves, that they should have
them as witnesses of their
damnation, not as aids to
health. For beyond all doubt you should have taken into consideration the actual concluding words of this psalm, and have understood that, on account of those who
forsake the
faith after they have been
baptized, it cannot be said by all who receive holy
baptism that "I will dwell in the
house of the
Lord for ever:" and yet, whether they
abide in the
faith, or whether they have fallen away, though they themselves are not one, their baptism
is one, and though they themselves are not both holy, yet the baptism in both is holy; because even apostates, if they return, are not baptized as though they had lost the sacrament, but undergo humiliation, because they have done a despite to it which remains in them.
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