Part 3
Lord." * Let them, who can, say that men are not born in this body of death, that so they may be able to affirm that they have no need of God's grace through Jesus Christ in order to be delivered from the body of this death. Therefore he adds, a few verses afterwards : " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for
2 Let them say, who dare,
sin, condemned sin in the flesh."
that Christ must have been born in the likeness of sinful flesh, if we were not born in sinful flesh.
Chap. 44.
Likewise to the Corinthians he says : " For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."' Again, in his
Second Epistle to these Corinthians : " For the love of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead : and for all did Christ die, that they which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth know we no man after the flesh ; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet from henceforth know we Him so no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things are passed away ; behold, all things
1 Rom. vii. 14-25. 2 Rom. viii. 3. 3 I Cor. xv. 3.
CHAP. XLYI.] PROOFS FROM HIS EPISTLES. 45 are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled ns to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the ministry of reconciliation. To what effect ? That God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and putting on us the ministry of reconciliation. Now then are we ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us ; we pray you in
Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 "We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For He saith, I have heard thee in an acceptable time, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee : behold, now is the acceptable time ; behold, now
2 Now, if infants are not embraced
is the day of salvation.)"
within this reconciliation and salvation, who wants them for the baptism of Christ ? But if they are embraced [in this reconciliation and salvation,] then are they reckoned as among the dead for whom He died ; nor can they be possibly reconciled and saved by Him, unless He remit and impute not unto them their sins.
Chap. 45.
Likewise to the Galatians the apostle writes : " Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus
Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver
3 While in another passage
us from this present evil world."
he says to them : " The law was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made ; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator belongs not to one party; but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God ? God forbid : for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." 4
Chap. 46. To the Ephesians he addresses words of the same import
1 2 Cor. v. 14-21. » 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2. 3 Gal. i. 3. 4 Gal. iii. 19-22.
4G ON FOEGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
" And you [hath He quickened,] when ye were dead in trespasses and sins ; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience ; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ ; by whose
1 Again, a little afterwards, he says : " By grace ye are saved."
grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
2 And again, after a short interval:
should walk in them."
" At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world : but now, in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometimes far off are made nigh by tlie blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances ; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having in Himself slain the enmity ; and He came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access by one
3 Then in another passage he thus
Spirit unto the Father."
writes : " As the truth is in Jesus : that ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." 4 And again
" Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." 5
1 Eph. ii. 1-5. 2 Eph. ii. 8-10. » Eph. ii. 12-18.
4 Eph. iv. 22-24. * Eph. iv. 30.
CHAP. XLVIII.] FURTHER PROOFS FROM ST. PAUL. 47
Chap. 47.
To the Colossians he addresses these words : " Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light : who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; in whom we have redemption in
1 And again he says: "And ye
the remission of our sins."
are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power : in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ ; buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, when ye were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses ; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross ; and
2 He made a bold and confident show of principalities and powers, triumphing over them in putting the flesh off Him,
Himself.''
Chap. 48. And then to Timothy he says : " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting." 5 He also says : " For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave Himself
6 In his 'second Epistle to the same Timothy, he says : " Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner : but be thou a ransom for all."
a fellow-labourer for the gospel, according to the power of God ; who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
1 Col.i. 12-14. 2 Exuens se carnem. 3 Col. ii. 10-15.
4 Humanus sermo. 5 1 Tim. i. 15, 16. 6 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6.
48 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
world began; but is now manifested by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospeL"
Chap. 49.
Then a^ain he writes to Titus as follows : " Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a
2 And to the like
peculiar people, zealous of good works."
effect in another passage : " But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour ; that, being justified by
His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Chap. 50.
The Epistle of the Hebrews, although its authority is
4 is, I find, sometimes held by persons, who doubted by some, oppose our opinion touching the baptism of infants, to contain evidence in favour of their own views. We are therefore bound to notice the pointed testimony it bears in our behalf and I quote it the more confidently, because of the authority of the Eastern Churches, which expressly place it amongst the
1 canonical Scriptures. In its very exordium one thus reads :
" God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds ; who, being
> 2 Tim. i. 8-10. 2 Tit. ii. 13, 14. 3 Tit. iii. 3-7.
4 Amongst the Latins, as Jerome tells us in more than one passage (see his
Commentaries, on Isa. vi., viii. ; on Zech. viii. ; on Matt. xxvi. ; also, in his
Catal. Script. Eccles., c. xvi. [ad Paulum], and lxx. [ad Gaium], etc.). The
Greeks, however, held that the epistle was the work of St. Paul. In his Epistle cxxix. [ad Dardanum] he thus writes : " We must admit that the epistle written to the Hebrews is regarded as the Apostle Paul's, not only by the ehurches of the East, but by all church writers who have from the beginning {retro) written in Greek." [Note of the Benedictine Editor.]
CHAP. L.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 49 the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the
1 And by and by the
right hand of the Majesty on high."
writer says : " For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so
2 And again in another passage: "Forasmuch then," says he, " as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same great salvation V' that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." 3
Again, shortly after, he says : " Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to
4 And
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
in another place he writes : " Let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted
5 Again he says : " He hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, sepalike as we are, yet without sin."
rate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens ; who needeth not daily (as those high priests) to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people's : for this He did once, when He offered up Himself."
6 And once more
" For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us : nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world ;) but now once, in the end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it
50 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment ; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many : and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation."
Chap. 51. The Eevelation of John likewise tells us that in a new sons?
these praises are offered to Christ : " Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."
Chap. 52. To the like effect, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle
Peter designated the Lord Jesus as " the Prince or Author of life," upbraiding the Jews for having put Him to death in these words : " But ye dishonoured and denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and ye killed the Prince of life."
3 While in another passage he says : " This is the stone which was set at nought by you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." 4
And again, elsewhere : " The God of our fathers raised up
Jesus, whom ye slew, by hanging on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for
5 Once more [the same apostle says :] " To Him give all the prophets to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."
witness, that, through His name, whosoever believeth in Him
6 Whilst in the same Acts of
shall receive remission of sins."
the Apostles Paul says : " Be it known therefore unto you, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins : and by Him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."
Chap. 53. The utility of the hooks of the Old Testament. Under so great a weight of testimony, who would not be oppressed that should dare lift up his voice against the truth
1 Heb. ix. 24-28. 2 Rev. v. 9. 3 Acts iii. 14, 15.
4 Acts iv. 11, 12. 5 Acts v. 30, 31. 6 Acts x. 43.
7 Acts xiii. 38, 39.
CHAP. LIT.] THE OLD TESTAMENT SCEIPTUEES. 51 of God ? And many other testimonies might be found, were it not for my anxiety to bring this tract to an end,—an anxiety which I must not slight. From the books of the Old Testament, likewise, many attestations to our doctrine in inspired words
[might be adduced, but these] I have deemed it superfluous to quote, on the ground that what they have concealed under the veil of earthly promises is clearly revealed in the preaching of the New Testament. Our Lord Himself briefly demonstrated and defined the use of the Old Testament writings, when He said that it was necessary there should be a fulfilment of what had been written concerning Himself in the Law, and in the
Prophets, and in the Psalms, even to the effect that Christ must suffer, and rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
1 In agreement with which is that statement of Peter which I have already quoted, how that all the prophets bear witness to
Christ, through whose means every one that believes in Him receives remission of his sins.
Chap. 54. By the sacrifices of the Old Testament men were convinced of sins rather than cleansed from them. And yet it is perhaps better to advance a few testimonies even out of the Old Testament, which will serve to supplement our former quotations, or rather form a crowning addition to their value. The Lord Himself, speaking by the Psalmist, says : " As for my saints which are upon earth, He hath wonderfully fulfilled all my purposes in them."
3 He does not that which is afterwards mentioned,—" their sorrows are multisay their merits, but " ray purposes!' For what is theirs except
4—proving the fact that they are weak? Wherefore plied," also the law entered, that the offence mio-ht abound. But why does the Psalmist immediately add : " They hastened after another?"' When their sorrows and infirmities multiplied (that is, when their offence abounded), they then sought the Physician with the greater eagerness, that so, where sin abounded, grace might much more abound. He then says : " I will not gather their assemblies together [with their offerings] of blood;"
1 See Luke xxiv. 44-47. * Acts x. 43. 3 Ps. xvi. 3 (Sept.). * Vs. xvi. 4. 5 Ps. xvi. 4.
52 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
for by their many sacrifices of blood, when they gathered their assemblies into the tabernacle at first, and then into the temple, they were rather convicted as sinners than cleansed.
I shall not then gather these assemblies of blood-offerings together, He says in fact ; because there is one blood-shedding given for many, whereby they may be cleansed in very deed.
Then it follows, [in the same verse :] " Neither will I make mention of their names with my lips." For these were their names at first : children of the flesh, children of the world, children of wrath, children of the devil, unclean, sinners, impious ; but afterwards they became children of God,—becoming a new man, a new name befits them ; and a new song, because endued with new chanting powers by means of the
New Testament [of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ]. Men must not be ungracious with God's grace, mean and small with great things ; [but be ever rising] from the less to the greater. The cry of the whole Church is, " I have gone astray
1 From all the members of Christ the voice like a lost sheep."
: " All we, as sheep, have gone astray ; and He hath is heard
2 The whole of this
Himself been delivered up for our sins."
passage is that famous one in Isaiah which was expounded by
Philip to the eunuch of Queen Candace, when he on the
3 See how often he comstrength of it believed in Jesus.
mends this very subject, and, as it were, inculcates it again and again on proud and contentious men : " He was a man under a heavy stroke, who well knew how to bear infirmities ; because
His face was averted, dishonoured, and lightly esteemed.
He carries our sins, and for us is involved in pains : and we accounted Him to be [for Himself] in pain, and suffering, and punishment. But He was wounded for our sins, was weakened for our infirmities ; it was our peace's chastisement that was inflicted on Him ; and by His bruise we are healed. All we, as sheep, have gone astray; and the Lord delivered Him up for our sins. And although He was Himself so evilly treated, He yet opened not His mouth : as a sheep was He led to the slaughter, and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away : His generation who shall declare ? For His
1 Ps. cxix. 176. 2 Isa. liii. 6. 3 Acts viii. 30-37.
CHAP. LV.] THE SACEIFICE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 53 life shall be taken away from the earth, and for the iniquities of my people was He led to death. Therefore I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death ; because He did no iniquity, nor deceit with His mouth. The Lord is pleased to purge Him from His stroke. If you could yourselves have given your soul an offering for sin, then ye should certainly see a seed of a prolonged life. The Lord is also pleased to rescue His soul from its travail, to show Him light, and to form it through His understanding ; to justify the Just
One, who serves so well the cause of many; and He shall Himself bear their sins. Therefore for His inheritance He shall possess many, and He shall divide the spoils of the mighty; and
He was numbered amongst the transgressors ; and Himself bare the sins of many, and for their iniquities was He delivered."
Consider also that passage of this same prophet which Christ actually declared to be fulfilled in Himself, when He recited it in the synagogue [of ISTazareth], discharging the function of
2 " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He the reader : hath anointed me : to preach glad tidings to the poor hath He sent me ; (that so I may refresh all who are broken-hearted,) as well as to preach deliverance to the captives, and to the blind
3 Let us then all acknowledge Him;
recovery of their sight."
nor should there be one exception among persons like ourselves, who wish to cleave to His body, to enter through Him into the sheepfold, and to attain to that salvation and eternal life which He has promised to His own.—Let us, I repeat, all of us acknowledge Him who did no sin, who bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we might live unto righteousness separate from sins,; by whose wounds and scars we are healed, although in ourselves so weak—as erring sheep.
Chap. 55. [xxviii.]—Re concludes that all men need the death of Christ, that they may be saved. Unbaptized in/ants will be involved in the condemnation of the devil. How all men through Adam are unto condemnation ; and through Christ unto justification. Under such circumstances, no man of those who have been joined to Christ by baptism has ever been regarded, according to sound doctrine and the true faith, as excepted from the
1 Isa. liii. 3-12 (Sept.). * See Lulce iv 16_21 . 3 Isa. ^d, j,
There is here some omission. Benedictine Note.
54 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
grace of forgiveness of sins ; nor has eternal life been ever
^ For thought possible to any man except in Christ's kingdom.
this °[eternal life] is ready to be revealed at the last time, which will be at the resurrection of the dead who are reserved not for that eternal death which is called " the second death," but for the eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promises to His saints and faithful servants. Now all who shall partake of this life can only be made alive in Christ, even as all die in
2 For as none whatever, in respect of their birth accord-
Adam.
ing to the will of the flesh, die except in Adam, in whom they alf sinned, so none at all who are regenerated by the will of the Spirit are endowed with life except in Christ, in whom they are all justified. Because as through one all [are brought] to condemnation, so through One are all [brought] to justification. Nor is there any middle place or state for any man, so that a man can only be with the devil who is not with Christ.
Accordingly, even the Lord Himself (wishing to remove from
3 that vague and indefinite the minofs of heretical thinkers middle condition, which some would provide for unbaptized infants,—as if, by reason of their innocence, they were embraced in eternal life, but were not, because of their unbaptized state, with Christ in His kingdom) uttered that definitive sentence of His, which seems intended to shut the mouths of these persons : " He that is not with me is against
4 Take then the case of any infant you please : If he is me."
already in Christ, why baptize him ? If, however, as the Truth puts the case, he is baptized for the express purpose of being with Christ, it certainly follows that he who is not baptized is not with Christ; and if he is not "with" Christ, he is
" against" Christ ; for He has pronounced His own sentence, which is so explicit that we ought not, and indeed cannot, impair it or change it. And how can he be " against" Christ, if not owing to sin ? for it cannot possibly be from his soul or his body, both of these being the creation of God. Now if it be owing to sin, what sin can be found at such an age, except the ancient and original sin \ Of course that sinful flesh in which all are born to condemnation is one thing, and that
Flesh which was made " after the likeness of sinful flesh,"
1 1 Pet. L 5. 2 1 Cor. xv. 22. 3 Male credentium. 4 Matt. xii. 30.
CHAP. LYI.] CONDEMNATION AND JUSTIFICATION. 55 whereby also all are freed from condemnation, is another thing. It is, however, by no means meant to be implied that all who are born in sinful flesh are themselves actually cleansed by that Flesh which is " like" sinful flesh ; " for all men have not faith."
1 [What is meant is, to predicate such a universal sense in each case as shall be compatible with their respective conditions, so that] all who spring from natural concubinage are born entirely of sinful flesh, whilst all who are born again of spiritual betrothal are cleansed only by the Flesh which is in the likeness of sinful flesh. In other words, the former class are in Adam [born] to condemnation, the latter are in Christ [regenerated] to justification. This is pretty much the same thing as saying, for example, that in such a city there is a certain widwife who undertakes for all and in the same place there is an expert teacher who instructs the entire community. [Now in these modes of expression there is of course a limitation.] In the one case, only those who are born can possibly be understood ; in the other case, only those who are taught : it does not, however, follow that all who are born also receive the instruction. For it is obvious to any that the former statement, about her undertaking for all, indicates that none is born without passing through her hands ; while the other assertion, about his teaching all, implies that none is instructed except by his tuition.
Chap. 56. No one is reconciled to God except through Christ.
Taking into account all the inspired statements which I have quoted,—whether I regard the separate value of each passage, or combine their united testimony in an accumulated witness (or if I even include similar passages which I have not adduced),—there can be nothing discovered, but that which the Catholic Church holds, in her dutiful vigilance against all profane novelties, that every man is separated from God, except those who are reconciled to Him through Christ the Mediator; and that no one can be separated from God, except through the sins which cause separation : that there is, therefore, no reconciliation except by the remission of sins, through the grace alone of the most merciful Saviour,—through
1 2 Thess. iii. 2.
56 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
the only sacrifice of the most veritable Priest ; and that none who are born of the woman, that trusted the serpent and was corrupted through concupiscence,1 are delivered from this body of death, except by the Son of the virgin who believed the angel so as to be impregnated without concupiscence. 2
Chap. 57. [xxix.]— The good of marriage; original sin seems to stand in sexual love; four different cases of the good and the evil use of matrimony.
The good, then, of marriage lies not in the ardour of concupiscence, but in a certain legitimate and honourable means of indulging the ardour, adapted for the propagation of children, not for the gratification of lust. [What characterizes matrimony is the regulated desire voluntas—not the voluptuous extravagance vohcptas.] 3 That, therefore, which is recklessly excited in the members of this body of death, and endeavours to attract into itself the entire affection of our fallen state (neither arising nor subsiding at the bidding of the mind), is that evil of sin in which every man is born. When, however, it curbs its unlawful and corrupt desires, and applies itself simply to the temperate propagation and renewal of the human race, then ensues the proper use of wedlock, which produces human birth by the well-ordered conjunction of the sexes. Nobody, however, is born again in Christ's body, unless he be previously born in the body of sin. But inasmuch as it is an evil to make a bad use of a good thing, so is it a good to utilize a bad thing well. These two ideas therefore of good and evil, and those other two of a good use and an evil use, when they are duly combined together, produce four different conditions:—[1.] A man makes a good use of a good thing, when he dedicates his chastity to God
[2.] He makes a bad use of a good thing, when he dedicates his chastity to an idol; [3.] He makes a bad use of an evil thing, when he loosely gratifies his concupiscence by adultery
[4.] He makes a good use of an evil thing, when he restrains his concupiscence by matrimony. Now, as it is better to make good use of a good thing than to make good use of an evil thing,—the use in both instances being good,—so " he that giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well ; but he that
1 Gen. iii. 6. 2 Luke i. 38.
The sentence between the brackets occurs in none of the mss.
CHAP. LVIII.] PELAGIAN VIEW OF INFANT BAPTISM. 57 givetli her not in marriage doeth better." * This question, indeed, I have treated at greater length, and more to the point, as God enabled me according to my humble abilities, in two works of mine,—one of them, On the Good of Marriage, and the other, On Holy Virginity. They, therefore, who extol the flesh and blood of a sinful creature, to the prejudice of the
Eedeemer's flesh and blood, must not defend the evil of concupiscence through the good of marriage ; nor should they, from whose infant a^e the Lord has inculcated in us a lesson
2 be proudly exalted by the error of others. He of humility, only was born without sin whom His virgin mother conceived without the embrace of a husband,—not by the concupiscence of the flesh, but by the chaste submission of her
3 She alone was able to give birth to One who should mind.
heal our wound, who brought forth the germ of a pure offspring without the wound of sin.
Chap. 58. [xxx.] In what respect the Pelagians regarded baptism as necessary for infants. Let us now examine more carefully, so far as the Lord enables us, that very chapter of the Gospel where He says,
" Except a man be born again,—of water and the Spirit,—he
4 If it were not shall not enter into the kingdom of God."
for the authority which this sentence has with them, they would not be of opinion that infants ought to be baptized at all. This is their comment on the passage : " Because He does not say, ' Except a man be born again of water and the
Spirit, he shall not have salvation or eternal life,' but He merely said, ' shall not enter into the kingdom of God/ therefore infants are to be baptized, to the intent that they may be with Christ in the kingdom of God, where they will not find entrance unless they are baptized. Should they die, however, even without baptism, in the state of infancy, they will have salvation and eternal life , seeing that they are not bound with any chain of sin." Now in such a statement as this, the first thing that strikes one is, that they never explain where the justice is of separating from the kingdom of God that "image of God" which has no sin. Then, secondly, we ought to see whether the Lord Jesus, the one only true
1 1 Cor. vii. 38. 2 Matt, xviii. 4. 3 Luke i. 34, 38. 4 John iii. 3, 5.
58 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
Teacher, has not in this very passage of the Gospel intimated, and indeed shown us, that it only comes to pass through the forgiveness of their sins that baptized persons reach the kingdom of God; although to persons of a right understanding, the words, as they stand in the passage, ought to be sufficiently explicit : " Except a man be born again, he cannot see
1 and : " Except a man be born of water the kingdom of God;" and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Eor why should he be born again, unless to be renewed ? Erom what is he to be renewed, if not from some old condition ? Erom what old condition, but that in which " our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed \ " 3 Or whence comes it to pass that " the image of God " enters not into the kingdom of God, unless it be that the impediment of sin prevents it ? However, let us (as we said before) see, as earnestly and diligently as we are able, what is the entire context which belongs to the quotation which we have made out of the Gospel on the point in question.
Chap. 59.
" There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews : the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Eabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God : for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Mcodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old ?
can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born ? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born a^ain. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, How can these
1 John iii. 3. 2 John iii. 5. 3 Rom. vL 6.
CHAP. LX.] OPPOSED TO THE WORDS OF CHRIST. 59 things be ? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things ? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses
1 even so must the Son lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned ; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
2 Thus far the Lord's discourse wholly relates to the subject of our present inquiry ; from this point the sacred historian digresses to another matter.
Chap. 60. [xxxr.] Christ, the head and the body ; owing to the union of the.
natures in the person of Christ, He both remained in heaven, and walked about on earth; how the one Christ could ascend to heaven; the one
Christ is not only the head, but the body too. Now when Xicodemus understood not what was being told him, he inquired of the Lord how such things could possibly be. Let us look at what the Lord said to him in answer to his inquiry ; for of course, as He deigns to answer the question how these things can be, He will in fact tell us how spiritual regeneration can accrue to a man who springs from carnal generation. After noticing with a slight censure the ignorance
1 Num. xxi. 9. 2 John iii. 1-21.
60 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
of one who assumed a superiority over others as being a public teacher, and having blamed the unbelief of all persons who belonged to his class, for refusing to accept His witness to the truth, He went on to inquire and wonder whether, as He had told them about earthly thingjb and had not gained their assent, they would believe Him when He discoursed about heavenly things. He then pursues the subject, and gives an answer such as others should believe—if these refused—to His own question, [and so indicates] how these mysteries could happen.
" No man," says He, " hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which
1 Thus, He says in fact, shall happen the is in heaven."
spiritual birth,—men, from being earthly, becoming heavenly ; and this result they can only obtain [so He seems to add] by being made members of me ; so that he may ascend who descended,—no one ascending unless he first descended. All, therefore, who have to be changed and raised must meet together in a union with Christ, so that the Christ who descended should Himself ascend, reckoning His body (that is to say, His
Church) as nothing else than Himself,—that passage receiving its truest sense from Christ and the Church, " And they twain shall be one flesh ;" 2 concerning which very subject He expressly said Himself, " So then they are no more twain, but
3 To ascend, therefore, they would be wholly one flesh."
unable [out of Christ], since " no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." 4 For although, as the Son of man, He was formed on earth, yet He did not deem it unworthy of that divinity, in which, while remaining in heaven,
He came down to earth, to designate it by the name of the
Son of man, as He dignified His flesh with the name of Son of God (thereby to prevent His two conditions being regarded as two Christs,—the one God, the other man ;
6 and to secure
His being at once both God and man,—God, because " in the beginning was the "Word, and the Word was with God, and i John iii. 13. 2 Gen. ii. 24.
3 Mark x. 8. 4 John iii. 13.
5 This was the error which was subsequently condemned in the heresy of
Nestorius.
CHAP. LXI.] THE TWO NATURES OF THE ONE CHRIST. 61 wl and man, inasmuch as " the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" the Word was God ;
2 ). By this means—by the difference between His divinity and His humiliation—He remained in heaven as Son of God, and walked on earth as Son of man ; whilst, by that unity of His person which made His two substances one Christ, He also walked as Son of God on earth, and at the same time Himself remained in heaven as the Son of man. Faith, therefore, in more credible things arises from the belief of such things as are more incredible.
For if His divine substance, though a far more distant object, and more sublime, owing to its incomparable diversity [from our human ideas], had ability so to take upon itself the nature of man on our account as to become one Person, and whilst appearing as Son of man on earth in the weakness of the flesh, was able to remain all the while in heaven through the divinity which assumed participation with the flesh, how much easier for our faith is it to suppose that fellow-men, who are His faithful saints, become one Christ with the Man Christ
Jesus, so that, whilst all ascend by His grace and fellowship, the one Christ Himself ascends to heaven who came down from heaven ? It is in this sense that the apostle says, " As we have many members in one body, and although all the members of the body, being many, are but one body, so like-
3 He did not say, " So also is Christ's " wise is Christ."
meaning Christ's body, or Christ's members—but his words are, " So likewise is Christ" thus calling the one Christ the
[Church's] head and body.
Chap. 61. [xxxn.] The serpent lifted up in the ivilderness prefigured Christ suspended on the c7~oss ; even infants themselves poisoned by the serpent's bite.
The attainment of this great and wonderful dignity can only be accomplished by the remission of sins. Accordingly He goes on to say, " And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." 4 We know what at that time happened in the wilderness. Many were dying of the bite of serpents : the people then confessed their sins, and, through Moses, besought the
1 John LI. 2 John i. 14. 3 1 Cor. xii. 12. * John iii. 14, 15.
62 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
Lord to take away from them the virulent infliction ; accordingly, Moses, at the Lord's command, lifted up a brazen serpent in the desert, and requested every one amongst the people that had been serpent-bitten to look towards the uplifted figure. When they did so they were immediately healed. What means the exalted serpent but the death of Christ, by that mode of expressing a sign, whereby the thing which is effected is signified by him that effects it ? Now death came by the serpent, which persuaded man to commit the sin, owing to which he deserved to die. The Lord, however, transferred not to His own flesh sin, as the poison of the serpent, although He did transfer to it death, that the penalty without the guilt might transpire in the likeness of sinful flesh, whence, in the sinful flesh, both the guilt might be removed and the penalty.
As, therefore, it then came to pass that whoever looked at the raised serpent was both healed of the poison and freed from death, so also now, whosoever conforms himself to the likeness of the death of Christ by faith in Him and His baptism, is both liberated from sin by justification, and by resurrection from death. For this is meant when He says, " That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal
1 What necessity then could there be for an infant's life."
being conformed to the death of Christ by baptism, if he were not altogether poisoned by the bite of the serpent ?
Chap. 62. [xxxm.] He then expresses Himself, by way of consequence, to the following effect : " God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
2 Every infant, therenot perish, but have everlasting life."
fore, was destined to perish, and to lose everlasting life, if through the sacrament of baptism he believed not in the onlybegotten Son of God. Meanwhile, He comes not in such a way as to judge the world, but that the world through Him may be saved. This especially appears in the following clause, wherein He says, " He that believeth in Him is not condemned ; although he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten
1 Jolm iii. 15. 2 John iii. 16.
CHAP. LXIII.] BAPTIZED INFANTS BELIEYEES. 63
1 In what class, then, do we place baptized infants
Son of God."
but amongst believers, as the voice of the Catholic Church everywhere loudly and clearly asserts ? Their rank, therefore, is amongst those who have believed ; for this [capacity] accrues to them by virtue of the sacrament and the guarantee of their sponsors, and on this account it follows that such as are not baptized are reckoned among those who have not believed.
]Sow if they who are baptized are not condemned, these last, as not being baptized, are condemned. He adds, indeed
" But this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light."
2 Of what does He say, * Light is come into the world," if not of His own advent ? and without the sacrament of His advent, how are infants said to be in the light ? And why should we not include even this fact in " men's love of darkness," that as they do not themselves believe, so they refuse to think that their infants ought to be baptized, although they are afraid of their incurring the death of the body ? u In God," however, he declares that man's " works to be wrought, who cometh to
3 because he is quite aware that his justification the light," results from no merits of his own, but from the grace of God.
" For it is God," says the apostle, " who worketh in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure." 4 This then is the way in which spiritual regeneration is effected in all who come to Christ in their carnal state. He explained it Himself, and pointed it out, when He was asked, How those things could be ? He left it open to no man to settle such a question by human reasoning. There is no passage leading to Christ, no man can be reconciled to God, or can come to God, except through Christ.
Chap. 63. [xxxiv.] The form, or rite, of baptism. Exorcism. What shall I say of the actual form of baptism ? I only wish some one of those who espouse the contrary side would bring me an infant to be baptized. What does my exorcism do in that babe, if he be not firmly included in the devil's family ? The man who brought the infant would certainly have had to act as sponsor for him, for he could not answer for
1 John iii. 18. 2 John iii. 19. 3 John iii. 21. 4 Phil. ii. 13.
64 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
himself. How was it possible then for him to declare that he renounced the devil, if there was no devil in him ? that he was converted to God, if he had never been averted from Him ? that he believed, besides other articles, in the forgiveness of sins, if no sins were attributable to him ? For my own part, indeed, if I thought that his opinions were opposed to this faith, I could not permit him even to bring the infant to the sacraments. Nor can I imagine with what face before men, or what mind before God, he can conduct himself in such a way. But I do not wish to say anythingtoo severe. That a false and fallacious form of baptism should be administered to infants, in which there might be the sound and semblance of something being done, but yet no remission of sins actually ensue, has been seen and allowed by some amongst them to be as abominable and hateful a thing as it was possible to mention or conceive. Then, again, in respect of the necessity of baptism to infants, they admit that even infants stand in need of redemption,—a concession which is made in a short treatise written by one of their party,—but yet there is not found in this work any open admission of the forgiveness of a single sin. According, however, to an intimation dropped in your letter to me, they now acknowledge, as you say, that a remission of sins takes place even in infants through baptism. No wonder ; for it is impossible that redemption should be understood in any other way. Their own words are these : " It is, however, not by reason of their original condition, but in their own proper actual life, after their birth, that they began to commit sin.
Chap. 64. A twofold mistake respecting infants. You see how great a difference there is amongst those whom I have been opposing at such length and persistency in this work,—one of whom has written the book which contains the points I have refuted to the best of my ability. You see, as I was saying, the important difference existing between such of them as maintain that infants are absolutely pure and free from all sin, whether original or actual ; and those who suppose that from their very birth infants have contracted sins of their own, from which they need cleansing by baptism.
CHAP. LXV.] DIFFERENT VIEWS ABOUT INFANT NATURE. 65
The latter class, indeed, by examining the Scriptures, and considering the authority of the whole Church as well as the form of the sacrament itself, have clearly discovered that by baptism remission of sins accrues to infants ; but they are either unable or unwilling to allow that the sin which infants have is original sin. The former class, however, clearly observed (as they easily might) that in the very nature of man, which is open to the consideration of all men, the tender age of which we speak could not possibly commit any sin whatever in its own proper conduct ; but, to avoid acknowledging original sin, they assert that in infants there is no sin at alL Now in the truths which they thus severally maintain, it so happens that they first of all mutually agree with each other, and subsequently differ from us in no material aspect. For if the one party concede to the other that remission of sins takes place in all infants which are baptized, whilst the other concedes to their opponents that infants (as infantnature itself in the stillness of its silence even loudly proclaims) have as yet contracted no sin in their own living, then both sides must agree in conceding to us, that nothing remains but original sin, which can be remitted in baptism.
Chap. 65. [xxxv.] In infants there are no sins actually committed by them.
Will this point also be questioned, and must we spend any time in discussing it, [namely,] to prove and show how that by their own will—without which there can be no sin actually committed—infants could never commit an offence, whom all, for this very reason, are in the habit of calling innocent t Does not their great weakness of mind and body, their perfect ignorance of things, their utter inability to obey a precept, the absence in them of all perception and impression of either natural or written law, the complete want of reason to impel them in the direction either of right or of wrong,—[does not,
I say, each one of these conditions of their life] proclaim and demonstrate the point before us by its silent and negative testimony much more expressively than any argument of ours ? The very palpableness of the fact must surely go a great way to persuade us of its truth ; for there is no place where I do
66 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
not find traces of what I say, so ubiquitous is the fact of which we are speaking,—clearer, indeed, to perceive than anything we can say to prove it.
J Chap. 66.—Infant* faults spring from their sheer Ignorance ; their praril:s> like those of simpletons, afford a natural pleasure and amusement.
I should, however, wish any one who was wise on the point to tell me what sin he has seen or thought of in an infant fresh from its mother's womb, for redemption from which he allows baptism to be already necessary ; or how much evil it has at this period of its life committed in its own mind or body.
If it should happen to cry and to be tedious to its elders, I wonder whether my informant would ascribe this to the fault of the baby, and not rather to its infelicity. What, too, would he say to the fact that it is hushed from its very weeping by no appeal to its own reason, and by no prohibition of any one else ? This, however, comes from the ignorance in which it is so deeply steeped, by reason of which, too, when it grows stronger, as it very soon does, it strikes its mother in its little passion, and often her very breasts which it sucks in its desire for food. Well, now, these small freaks are not only borne in very young children, but are actually liked, and this, too, with an affection which is only natural,
1 such as will feel pleasure from a laugh or a joke, even when seasoned with fun and nonsense by clever persons ; indeed, if the said joke were only felt in the way mentioned, the persons who indulge therein would not be laughed with as facetious, but derided as simpletons. Talking, indeed, of simpletons, we see how the silly fools called Moriones
2 are used for the amusement of clever people ; and that they fetch higher prices than your clever folks when appraised for the slave market. So great, then, is the influence of mere natural feeling, and that on persons who are by no means fools, in producing amusement at another's misfortune. Now, although a man may be amused by another man's silliness, he would still dislike to be a simpleton himself; and if the father, who gladly enough looks out for, and even provokes, silly pranks from his own merry little boy, were to foreknow that he would, when grown
1 Carnali. 2 See above, chap. 32.
3HAP. LXVII.] IGNORANCE AND FOLLY OF CHILDHOOD. 67 up, turn out a mere ninny, lie would no doubt think him a:ause of a bitterer sorrow than if he lost him by death. So long, however, as there is a good hope of healthy faculties, md a belief that a clear intellect will come with increase of
then it often happens that the saucy pranks of young ihildren even on father and mother are thought not merely lot wrong, but even agreeable and pleasant. No prudent man jould possibly approve of a weakness, which not only fails, vhile prohibition is possible, to forbid in children such conluct in word and deed as this, but even excites them to it,:hat they may enjoy the fun, and gratify the folly of their elders. For as soon as children are of an age to know their iather and mother, they dare not use wrong words to either, mless permitted or bidden by either, or both ; and even this
3an only be in the case of such young children as are now striving to lisp out words, and whose minds are just able to give notion to their tongue in such words as you please. Let us, lowever, consider rather that most perfect ignorance of newoorn babes, out of which, as they advance in age, they come to ihat merely temporary period of stuttering folly and prattle,
Dn their road, as it were, to full knowledge and speech.
Chap. 67. [xxxvi.]—On the ignorance of infants, and whence it arises.
Yes, let us consider that darkness of their rational intellect,
3y reason of which they are even completely ignorant of God, whose sacraments they actually struggle against, while being baptized. Now my inquiry is, When and whence came they po be immersed in this darkness ? Is it then the fact that they incurred it all here, and in this life and conduct of theirs forgat God through over-much negligence, after a life of wisdom and religion in their mother's womb ? Let those say so who dare ; let them listen to [the nonsense] who like it ; let them pelieve it who can. I, however, am sure that none whose grinds are not blinded by an obstinate adherence to a foregone
Conclusion can possibly entertain such an opinion. Is there hen no evil in ignorance ,—nothing in it which needs to be urged and done away ? \ What means that prayer : " KeI member not the sins of my youth and of my ignorance ?"* f\
1 Ps. xxiv. 7 (Sept.).
63 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK L
For although those sins are more damnable which are knowingly committed, yet if there were no sins of ignorance, we should not have read in Scripture such a sentence as entreats
God not to remember the sins of one's youth and one's ignorance. Seeing now that the soul of an infant fresh from its mother's womb is still the soul of a human being,—nay, the soul of a rational creature,—and remembering that it is not only untaught, but even incapable of instruction, I ask why, or when, or whence, it was plunged into the shadows of that thick darkness in which it lies ? If it is the way of man's nature thus to begin its course, and if that nature is not at fault in this early stage, then why was not Adam created with such a nature ? Why was he susceptible of a moral commandment ? and how had he intellectual ability to give names to his wife, and to all the animal creation ? For of
1 and in respect her he said, "She shall be called Woman;" of the rest we read : " Whatsoever Adam called every living
2 Whereas the human
creature, that was the name thereof."
being of whom we write, although he is ignorant where he is, what he is, by whom created, of what parents born, is already guilty of offence, and yet is incapable as yet of moral government, and is so completely involved and overwhelmed in a cloud of darkness and ignorance, that he cannot be aroused out of his sleepy condition, so as to perceive that these facts are at any rate set before him ; but a time must be patiently awaited, until he can shake off this overhanging drowsiness and intoxication, as it were, (not indeed in a single night, as even the heaviest drunken bout usually can be, but) only gradually, through the space of many months, and even years ; and until this be accomplished, we have to bear in little children so many things which we restrain in older persons, that we cannot enumerate them. Now, as touching this enormous amount of ignorance and weakness, [I ask] if it be true that infants have in this present life accumulated it as soon as they were born, where, when, how, have they become suddenly implicated in such darkness by the perpetration of some great iniquity ?
2 Gen. ii. 19.
1 Gen. ii. 23.
CHAP. LXVIII.] THE HELPLESSNESS OF INFANCY. C9
Chap. 68. [xxxvn.] If Adam ivas not created of such a character as that in which we are born, how is it that Christ, although free from sin, was bom an infant and in weakness ? The weakness of the flesh a penal thing, even in infants.
Some one will ask, If this nature is not pure, but is faulty in its origin, since Adam was not created of such, how is it that Christ, who is far more excellent, and was certainly born of a virgin without any sin, appeared in such weakness, and came into the world in the state of infancy ? To this question our answer is as follows : Adam was not created in such a state, because, as no sin from a parent preceded him, he was not created in sinful flesh. We, however, are in such a condition, because by reason of his preceding sin we are born in sinful flesh ; while Christ was born in such a state, because, in order that He might condemn sin, He assumed the likeness of sinful flesh. The question, however, which we are now discussing is not about Adam in respect of the size of his body, since he was not made an infant, but in the perfection..of a full-grown man ; and it may indeed be said that the beasts were thus created likewise,—nor was it owing: to their sin that their young happened to be born so small in stature. Why indeed all this came to pass we are not now asking. But the question before us has regard to the degree of man's intellectual power and his use of reason, by virtue of which f Adam, who was capable of instruction, was able to understand
God's moral law and commandment, and if he so willed, to observe and keep it without any difficulty ; whereas man is now born in such a state as to be utterly incapable of doing so, owing to his dreadful ignorance and weakness, not indeed of body, but of mind,—although we must all admit that in every infant there exists a rational soul of the self-same substance (and no other) as that which belonged to the first man.
Still this very infirmity of the flesh, complete as it is, clearly, in my opinion, points to a something, whatever it may be, that is penal. It raises the doubt whether, if the first human beings had not sinned, they would have had children who could use neither tongue, nor hands, nor feet ; that they should be born in the diminutive state of infancy was perhaps absolutely necessary, owing to the limited capacity of the womb.
70 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK I.
But, at the same time, it does not follow, because a rib is a small part of a man's body, that God made [the first] man an infant wife, and then built her up into a woman. The manner of her creation indeed suggests the reflection that God's almighty power was competent to make her children also , soon to be born to her, adult at once.
Chap. 69. [xxxviil]— The ignorance and the infirmity of an infant. But not to dwell on this, that was at least possible to them which has actually happened to many animals, that although their young are born of diminutive stature, and without power either of increasing in bodily bulk or of advancing in mental faculty, the little creatures yet run about, and recognise their mothers, and require no external help or care when they want to suck, but with remarkable ease discover their mothers' breasts themselves, although these are concealed from ordinary sight. A human being, on the contrary, at his birth is furnished neither with legs fit for walking, nor with hands able even to scratch ; and unless their lips were actually applied to the breast by the mother, they would not know where to find it ; and even when close to the nipple, they would, notwithstanding their desire for food, be more able to cry than to suck. It cannot be denied, then, that this utter helplessness of body fits in with their infirmity of mind ; nor would
Christ's flesh have been " in the likeness of sinful flesh," unless sinful flesh had been such that the rational soul is oppressed by it in the way we have described. And as for this rational soul, whether it has been derived from parents, or created in each case for the individual separately, or whether it be an inspiration from above, I now forbear from inquiring.
Chap. 70. [xxxix.] How far sin is done away in infants, also in adults, and what advantage results therefrom. No man, except by an ineffable miracle, is in this life entirely freed from all evil concupiscence. Sins of ignorance and infirmity.
In infants it is certain that, by the grace of God, through His baptism who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, it is brought to pass that the sin of the flesh is done away. This result, however, is so effected, that the concupiscence which is diffused over and innate in this very living flesh of ours is not removed all at once, su as to exist in it no longer; but only
CHAP. LXX.] WHY CHRIST PARTOOK OF THIS STATE. 71 that it might not be injurious to a man at his death, as it was inherent at his birth. For should an infant survive his baptism, and arrive at an age capable of obedience to a law, he finds there a concupiscence to fight against, and, by God's help, to overcome, unless he has received His grace in vain, and is willing to be a reprobate. For not even to those who are of riper years is it given in their baptism (except, it may be, by an indescribable miracle of the almighty Creator), that the law of sin which is in their members, warring against the law of their mind, should be entirely extinguished, and cease to exist ; but that whatever of evil has been done, said, or thought by a man whilst his mind was subject to this concupiscence, and he its servant, should be abolished, and regarded as if it had never occurred ; whilst the concupiscence itself, however,
(notwithstanding the loosening of the chain of sin by which the devil, operating through it, used to keep the soul in bondage, and although the barrier is destroyed which separated man from his Maker,) remains engaged in the contest in which we chasten our body and bring it into subjection ; has to be relaxed by being directed to lawful and necessary uses, or to be
1 But inasmuch as the Spirit of God, who knows so much better than we do all the past, and restrained by continence.
present, and future of the human race, foresaw and foretold that the life of man would be such that " no man living should be justified in God's sight," 2 it happens that through ignorance or infirmity we do not exert all the powers of our will against this [evil concupiscence,] and so yield to it in the commission of even sundry unlawful things,—becoming worse in proportion to the frequency and greatness of our surrender ; and better, the less frequent and less complete our submission may be. The investigation, however, of the point in which we are now interested—whether there could possibly be (or whether in fact there is, has been, or ever will be) a man without sin in this present life, except Him who said, " The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me " 3—requires a much fuller discussion ; and the arrangement of the present treatise is such as to make us postpone the question to the commencement of another book.
1 1 Cor. ix. 27. 2 Vs. cxliii. 2. 3 John xiv. 30.
72 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
BOOK SECOND.