Forbes on Article XXVII: Of Baptism

To be severed from the mass of mankind, to be dis tinguished as the little flock to whom it has pleased the Father to give the kingdom, is no small privilege, yet this is the first and lowest conception of the Sacra ment of Baptism. It is a mark of difference ” whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened” (Lat. a non Christianis). But it is something infinitely higher than this, and the gifts therein be stowed are classed by the Article under the following four heads.

First, ” it is a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Bap tism rightly are grafted into the Church.”

Here observe, first of all, that the word ” sign” is the technical word for the outward part of any Sacra ment, and therefore, it means that the aspersion of the neophyte with water, or his immersion therein, ac companied by a definite form of words, is the outward act which conveys regeneration or new birth ; such Sa crament acting instrumentally (per instrumentum), that is, as the instrument ordained by Almighty God, the result of which is, by a strict law of cause and effect, that the person receiving Baptism rightly is grafted into the Church. Of this engrafting St. Chrysostom saysa: — “Blessed be God, Who alone with wonders made all things, and changeth all. Behold they en joy the calm of freedom who a little before were held captives; they are denizens of the Church who were

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wandering in error ; and they have the lot of righteous ness who were in the confusion of sin. For they are not only free, but holy ; not holy only, but righteous ; not righteous only, but sons ; not sons only, but heirs ; not heirs only, but brethren of Christ ; not brethren of Christ only, but co-heirs ; not co-heirs only, but members ; not members only, but a temple ; not a temple only, but instruments of the Spirit. See how many are the free gifts of Baptism : and whereas some think that the heavenly grace consists only in the remission of sin, lo ! we have accounted ten glories thereof. Wherefore we baptize infants, although they have no sins, that holiness, righteousness, adoption, in heritance, brotherhood with Christ, may be added to them ; that they may become His members.”

Secondly, ” The promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed,” (visibiliter obsig- nantur). Again, says St. Chrysostom : — “The being sealed is a mark of great Providence ; that we are not set apart only, not taken by lot only, but sealed. For as one would make manifest those who fell to him, so also God set us apart that we should believe, He has sealed us that we should inherit the things to come. Again, through the things that are passed, He esta- blisheth those to come. For if it is He Who establisheth us to Christ, (that is, Who suffereth us not to be broken from the faith toward Christ) ; and He also Who anointed us, and gave the Spirit in our hearts, how shall He not give us the things to come ? For, if He

gave the beginnings, and the foundations, and the root, and the fountain, that is, the true knowledge of Himself, the participation of the Spirit, how shall He not give the result thereof?”

The Liturgies of the East and West agree in calling Baptism a seal, an impress, a guardian mark to those baptized. The baptized themselves are, in the language of the Hevelations, called ” the sealed ;” and while they use the word ” seal” chiefly of the great sacramental act of Baptism itself, they regard that great mystery as casting a portion of its radiance before and behind, and giving efficacy to other acts connected with it. The Church regards our Lord as favourably allowing the charitable work of bringing new members to Him, and so believing that He anticipated a portion of His grace to preserve them during the interval until they are fully prepared for Baptism, they ventured to affix His seal on catechumens ; or, after Baptism, they again visibly and formally affixed it, thereby representing to the mind what has first been worked invisibly by the Holy Spirit. As this was done in the form of the Saviour’s cross, and the term “seal” applied to that act of impressing the cross, it is probable that the word “sealing” was connected with a corresponding outward act, such as the sealing of the forehead ac tually spoken of by St. John ; so that, we may infer that the use of the cross in Baptism was coeval with Christian Baptism itself, which imparts to us the saving virtue of the Passion of Christ b.

b of. Dr. Pusey’s Tract on Baptism, p. 140.

Thirdly, ” Faith is confirmed.” In the ancient rituals, at the beginning of the service, the god-parents were asked in the name of the child to be baptized, ” “What seekest thou of the Church ?” and the answer is, “Faith.” This teaches us that, whereas God’s first or prevenient grace brings men to Faith and Baptism, and a certain pre-disposition of faith along with re pentance is bestowed in that holy ordinance, yet, as a consequence of our incorporation in Christ, fuller measures of assisting grace are bestowed upon the recipient, and that faith, which in its inchoate state obtained the grace of Baptism, is by that same Bap tism increased and confirmed according to the blessed promise of God, ” Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

Fourthly, ” Grace is increased by virtue of the invo cation of the divine name” (m divince invocations), for thus the Latin version of the Article teaches us to understand what in this connection would be unin telligible, viz. the expression in the English Article, that ” grace is increased by virtue of prayer to God.” This in its literal sense would be a truism, but, rightly in terpreted, it asserts the great religious truth that Bap tism not only confers but increases grace, bestows more abundantly the help and assistance of God according to the enlarged capacities of the new man in Christ, makes the soul more and more radiant and beautiful in the eyes of God.

The question of infant Baptism, while not without its authority, according to the terms of the Article, in

the inspired Word of God, rests mainly upon that of the Church. Perhaps nothing tends to exhibit in so striking a manner the objective nature of the Sacra ments of the new law, than the practice of conferring them upon those who are incapable of reason, in the belief that from such a ceremony any possible good result shall follow. This difficulty has not only per- plexed many good Christians, but forms the ground of defence of the advocates of adult baptism.

The doctrine can in no way be explained away, or its edge blunted. True, that beyond certain indica tions of the existence of baptismal grace and growth herein exhibited in the lives of some favoured ser vants of God, we have ordinarily no direct evidence of the new principle of spiritual life therein imparted. But faith needs not external tokens of what God has promised. We have nothing to do but to submit our reason to what the Church has taught us, firmly convinced that since our Blessed Lord suffered the little children to come unto Him, and since St. Paul pro nounced the children of his converts to be holy, we may be sure that the bounty and goodness of God works invisibly in His elect, anticipates by grace the first risings of the lower motions of our nature, deter mines the soul to good from earliest days, tends it from youth up with fostering hand, arms it in the beginning for the battle of life, and prevents it in all its doings with His most gracious favour.

The Article expresses itself distinctly but cautiously on the subject of infant Baptism. It asserts that ” it

is in any wise to be retained,” and grounds that re tention on the dogmatic fact, that it is most congruous with the institution of Christ, (cum institutione Christi optime congruat,) i.e. just what we should expect from that law of benediction, supernatural power, and un merited grace, which the Gospel emphatically exhibits.

And this very much represents what Holy Scripture indicates on the subject. While there is no direct command for the practice, all analogies and all in ferences are in its favour. The practice of infant circumcision, and of the infant baptism of proselytes among the Jews; the universality of the injunction “to teach all the nations, baptizing them0;” the ab soluteness of what our Lord said to Nicodemus d, coupled with the ” Suffer the little children to come unto Me6;” the assertion that the children of Chris tians are ” holy f,” which implies a cleansing from original sin ; the practice of the Baptism of house holds g, all are in favour of the practice, which actually from St. Justin11, Tertullian*, Origenk, and others, we find to have obtained, although in later times the practice of deferring Baptism became common, out of fear of forfeiting the fulness of its gift by grave subsequent sin l.

The reader will remember what has been said under Article XYI. as to the effect of the Sacrament of Bap-

c St. Matt, xxviii. 19. d St. John iii. 5. e St. Mark x. 14.

f 1 Cor. vii. 14. * Acts xvi. 15, 33 ; 1 Cor. i. 16.

h Apol., i. 15, p. 11, Oxf. Tr. i De Bapt.t c. 18.

k In Luc., Horn. xiv. l See St. Aug. Conf., i. n. 17, 18, pp. 10, 11, Oxf. Tr.

tism on sinm. It is in amplification of what was there stated that we assert the general effects of Baptism to be as follows : —

I. According to the words of Ezekiel n : ” Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you;” and those of the Apostle: ” So many of us as have been baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death ? Therefore we are buried with Him by Baptism into death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection : knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. ISTow if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him : knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more ; death hath no more domi mon over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once : but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord […] since all sin pertains to the oldness of life to which a man by his Baptism dies, and he thereby begins to live in newness of life, it follows that all sin is taken away by Baptism.

m p. 235. n ch. xxxvi. 28. ° Rom. vi. 3—11.

II. As by Baptism a man is incorporated into the Death and Passion of Christ, (for if ” we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him p/’) so the Passion of Christ becomes the remedy of each man just as if he had suffered in deed ; but the Passion of Christ is a sufficient satisfaction for all the sins of mankind, and therefore he who is baptized is freed from the reatus, the liability to all the punishment due to his sins, as if he had fully satisfied for them. This happens by his being made a member of that Body, of which He Who suffered and satisfied is the Head.

III. Baptism takes away the penalties of this pre sent life, but not in this present life ; only in the re surrection of the just, when this mortal shall have put on immortality, shall these be removed. And this is as it should be, for two reasons.

1. It is meet that the incorporate members of the one Body should, like the Head, suffer and die, bear the cross, and win the crown.

2. Men must not come to Baptism to avoid the sufferings of this present life, but to gain the glories of the next.

IY. By Baptism graces and virtues are conferred upon men; for, being thereby incorporated into and made members of that Body, of which Christ is the Head, from that Head graces and the plenitude of virtues are derived unto all. ” Of His fulness have all we received q.”

V. By Baptism each one is born again into the spi- P Rom. vi. 8. i St. John i. 16.

ritual life, which is by the faith of Christ, according to the Apostle, “The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God r.” But life can only exist in members united to their head, from which they receive sense and motion ; so from the spiritual Head, Christ, are derived the spiritual sense, which is the knowledge of truth ; and the spiri tual motion, which is the instinct of grace.

VI. This of course opens up the question of the theological reasons for infant Baptism, for how can the knowledge of the truth and the instinct of grace be in those who have no will or reason ? To this it is answered, that as the promises attached to Bap tism by Christianity belong to all the members of Christ, they attach to children with all their con comitants ; but grace and the infused virtues are the concomitants of that newness of life which is the special grace of Baptism, therefore children obtain them, in habit but not in act; of which, of course, they are incapable ; just as one asleep may have the habit of virtue, but while sleeping he is precluded from exercising it. St. Augustine s beautifully illus trates the theory of sponsorship : — ” Mother Church, in dealing with her babes, uses for them others’ feet that they may come, others’ hearts that they may be lieve, others’ tongues that they may confess.” So that they believe, not by their own act, but by the faith of the Church communicated to them.

r Gal. ii. 20. s Serm. x., de Verb. Ap., 176, t. v. 840, Ben.

VII. The next grace of Baptism is the opening of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was signified mi raculously * at the Baptism of our Saviour. To open the door is to remove the impediment which, prevents entrance ; but that impediment is the culpa and reatus poence, both of which are removed by Baptism, in that it incorporates men into the Passion of Christ.

VIII. The effects of Baptism are, as to its essence, the same in all, but not, of necessity, its accidental effects. Essentially, it was ordained to regenerate all men into the spiritual life ; but accidentally, in the case of adults, coming with more or less devotion, they may receive more or less of the grace of newness : also the divine virtue, in the extinction of the law of sin in the members, may in some cases miraculously work, to its entire destruction, according to a special ordina tion of divine Providence u.

IX. A serious question arises, how far does a feigned Baptism hinder its effect. It is almost too horrible to suppose such a thing, but a fiction may arise, either from unbelief, or from contempt of the Sacrament, or from a celebration of the ordinance in such a way as would vitiate the Sacrament, or from an indevout ac cess to it. The answer is, that in all cases Character, the invisible seal upon the soul, is conferred ; but the other effects are for the time suspended, and emerge when the fiction is destroyed by penitence x.

• St. Thos. 3a qu. 69, 1—10.

Baptism holds the first place among the Sacraments, because it is

the gate of the spiritual life ; by it we are made members of Christ, and become of the Body of the Church. It was instituted by our Loru before His Passion, as we learn from the third chapter of the Gospel of St. John. Baptism is divided into Baptism fluminis, flaminis, and sanguinis ; yet the first only is the Sacrament, the others, in defect thereof, are sufficient for the justification of the sinner.

Yet beyond these cases, Baptism is necessary to salvation, neces sitate medii.

The matter of Baptism is twofold, proximate and remote. The proximate matter is the ablution of the body, which should be such that it may be perceived that the water touches the body ; this may be, either by immersion of any part of the body into water, or by the affusion of water on the body, or by the aspersion of sufficient water to wet the body. The remote matter is natural water, either cold or hot, or bitter or sweet, or rain or river, or well or spring, or bath or sea, or turbid or muddy, or sulphurous. Also melted snow or condensed steam are valid. But oil, any bodily excreta, wine, milk, juices, are invalid vehicles of the grace. Distilled water and broths are doubtful. Where from necessity baptism has been administered in doubtful material, it is best to rebaptize conditionaliter.

The form of Baptism in the Latin and English Church, is, ” I bap tize thee,” &c. In the Greek Church, ” Be the servant of God baptized in the Name,” &c.

For the essence of the form of Baptism four things are required. There must be expressed, 1. The person “Thee;” 2. The action of the minister ” I baptize ;” 3. The invocation of the adorable Trinity ” in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;” 4. The assertion of the Unity as well as Trinity conveyed by ” la the name of.” The expression ” In the power of,” would not be valid.

Baptism in the name of Christ, or in the name of the Lord Jesus, in spite of a Canon of Pope Nicholas I. {A quodam Judizo 24 de Consec. dist. 4) is generally held to be invalid. The passages in the Acts of the Apostles do not mean that this was the primitive form, for that were to contradict the direct command of our Lord ; but that the Apostles administered the baptism of Christ, not that of John, or of Paul, or of Cephas; that it was instituted by Christ, and admitted men into His Communion and covenant. St. Cyprian (Ep. Ixxiii.) says : — “Peter makes mention of the Lord Jesus, not in the way of omitting the Father, but that the Son may be joined with the Father.” (See also St. Aug., lib. iii. cont. Maximin., 17.) The ordinary minister of Baptism is he who

lias ordinary jurisdiction. A deacon may baptize, by commission from the bishop, in defect of priests.

In case of necessity any one, having the use of reason, who baptizes with water in the name of the Holy Trinity, is accepted, — priest, deacon, layman, male, female, heretic, or excommunicate. Persons are not to be re-baptized who are baptized with the proper form and words by heretics, even by Calvinists who deny that Baptism remits sin, unless there be a doubt of the sufficiency of the administration. The Baptism of adults is properly in the hands of the Bishop, if he wills to do it solemnly, otherwise it belongs to the parish priest.

Priests of another parish baptizing against the will of the incumbent are to be severely punished, for usurping jurisdiction contrary to the mind of Christ.

One person ought to be baptized at a time, except in extreme necessity.

A parent ought not to baptize his child, except in case of necessity. No one can baptize himself.

Every man, and man only, while on earth is the subject of Baptism. Children, idiots, madmen, monsters, are all subjects of Baptism. It is not the custom of the Church to baptize the children of unbelievers against the will of both their parents, but if one parent be Christian, or if there be the immediate approach of death, or if, arrived at the age of reason, they themselves require it, they may be baptized.

No moral disposition is required in children or idiots, but in adults to receive Baptism validly and fructuously are required three things, 1. The consent of the will ; 2. Faith, at least actual ; 3. Repentance.

The external confession of sin is not of necessity. (Tract, de Sacr., ap. S. AmIr.y 3, 2 ; S. Thos. 3a. qu. 68, art. 6.) A dying man who has lost his senses may be baptized, if one only witness has heard him ex press the desire of it. A person coming to Baptism without faith or contrition receives the character of Baptism, for it is valid, but in his case for the time infructuous. He, may, however, repent aud believe, and then the Sacrament is not to be reiterated.

Kk

Notes

• St. Luke iii. 22. u St. Aug., de Peccat. Merit, et Remiss. , c. 89.