Christian Orthodoxy Understanding: The Sacrament Of Baptism: (Part four, one of two, Conclusion)
May 29, 2017 09:57:59 #
05/16/2017 On The Sacrament Of Baptism: (Part four, Conclusion)
Henry Karlson
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/sacrament-baptism-conclusion/?
This is the fourth and final post from a series on the sacrament of baptism.
On The Sacrament of Baptism: Part One
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/on-the-sacrament-of-baptism-part-one/
On The Sacrament Of Baptism: Part Two
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/on-the-sacrament-of-baptism-part-two/
05/15/2017 On The Sacrament Of Baptism: Part Three
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/on-the-sacrament-of-baptism-part-three/
Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, stained glass, St. Peter
Many martyrs for Christ died before receiving ritual baptism.
Some died without the sacrament because they converted on the spot of their martyrdom, such as what happened at Sebaste with a Roman soldier saying he wanted to join in and be with the Christians.
Dying for Christ without being ritually baptized.
Others died while catechumens, and yet were seen as followers of Christ.
God could and would welcome their faith, and so they would receive the grace of baptism as well.
St. Augustine made it very clear:
While the grace of baptism is necessary, those who died with faith and openness to God’s grace could and would receive it because God freely offers his grace to those who love him:
I have in mind those unbaptized persons who die confessing the name of Christ.
They receive the forgiveness of sins as completely as if they had been cleansed by the waters of baptism.
For, He who said: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,’ made exceptions in other decisions which are no less universal:
‘Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven’,
And again: ‘He who loses his life for my sake will find it.’[3]
The martyrs professed Christ, and so Christ received them into himself and the grace of the Holy Spirit was able to regenerate them, making them born again in their very death.
Many of them longed for baptism and were preparing for it but were martyred before they could receive it.
Others received the faith at the point of death and had not had the chance for catechism let alone baptism.
But their heart was with the Lord, open to him and his grace, and so they received, in and through their love, the grace from above and the Spirit of regeneration.
Salvation was possible for them because the sacrament was not held in contempt (so there is no disobedience, no rejection of Christ’s teachings), as Peter Lombard explained, using St Dismas as his prime example:
“See, you have here not only suffering, but also faith and contrition confer remission, where the sacrament is not held in contempt, as it shown by the example of the thief;
He was saved without baptism not by his suffering, but by faith.”[4]
This shows us that the grace of regeneration, known conventionally as baptism, can be given to those who do not reject that grace but are open to it, and open to following what is the norm to receive it if they can.
God loves humanity, and seeks their salvation, and so is not going to make impossible demands upon people and condemn them for accidents outside of their control.
He gives grace to all who are open to him and that grace; for those who come to know the church and the normative way to enter its community, they receive the grace through baptism;
For those who die preparing for baptism, or without the knowledge of its expectation, grace is available and salvation continues to be possible, as God judges through his merciful love.
Thus, the demand for baptism must be understood as a demand for the grace given out in baptism, and normally distributed by the church in baptism.
The Holy Spirit will continue to act as it wills, and give grace to those open to it, but those who reject it.
Those who close themselves off to it, such as those who know and understand the requirement of baptism but do not seek it out, then they risk perdition, as Peter Lombard explained:
But the Lord’s words are to be understood of those who can be baptized, but contemptuously fail to do so.
Or they are to be understood in this sense: Unless a man is reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, that is, by the regeneration which is done by water and the Holy Spirit, he shall not be saved.
However, that regeneration is not brought about only through baptism, but also through penance and blood.[5]
If someone does not know about the ritual of baptism, then they cannot be said to hold it in contempt.
God is not bound by the way he directs the church to spread his grace through the sacraments.
God can save those who are open to him and his grace.
God will judge people inasmuch as they know and understand his expectations.
Those invincibly ignorant will be judged for what they understand, and whether or not they open themselves to God in accordance to what they can and do know of him.
This is why those, who of no fault of their own, who have not been ritually baptized, can still be saved;
It is not because they do not receive the grace of baptism, which is necessary, but because God grants it to them in a way which only he knows.
Unless God has given us special revelation, we do not know who would be saved in this fashion.
We must not presume someone’s salvation or perdition.
Even if someone is told they must be baptized, this does not mean they will understand that expectation, and so if they deny it, it does not mean they are necessarily denying God and his grace:
They could be, but invincible ignorance shows other possibilities exist as well.
Their position and relationship with God is known by God, not us;
All that we know is that regenerative grace is given in baptism, and that those who are properly baptized will receive it, being forgiven of their sins, and so said to be born again through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Invincible ignorance is up to God to determine, for only God knows if someone is or is not invincibly ignorant;
What is up to us is to follow with what we know and understand.
To obey God and to let ourselves receive grace in the way he wants us to do with the ritual of baptism as the normative entrance into the new covenant and to reach out to others.
Minister to them, and encourage them to follow with us and be baptized so as to receive the bountiful grace which God offers to those who follow him.
[1] St. Bonaventure, Breviloquium. T***s. Erwin Esser Nemmers (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder, 1946), 176-7.
[2] Godfrey of St. Victor “Sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin,” in Victorine Texts in T***slation. Writings on the Spiritual Life. ed. Christopher P. Evans (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2014). 495.
[3] Saint Augustine, City of God Books VIII – XVI. T***s. Gerald G. .Walsh SJ and Grace Monahan OSU (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1952), 307 [XIII.7]
[4] Peter Lombard, The Sentences. Book 4: On the Doctrine of the Signs. t***s. Giulio Silano (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2010), 22 [IV.iv-4.3].
[5] Ibid., 23 [IV.iv-4.7].
Henry Karlson
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/sacrament-baptism-conclusion/?
This is the fourth and final post from a series on the sacrament of baptism.
On The Sacrament of Baptism: Part One
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/on-the-sacrament-of-baptism-part-one/
On The Sacrament Of Baptism: Part Two
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/on-the-sacrament-of-baptism-part-two/
05/15/2017 On The Sacrament Of Baptism: Part Three
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2017/05/on-the-sacrament-of-baptism-part-three/
Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, stained glass, St. Peter
Many martyrs for Christ died before receiving ritual baptism.
Some died without the sacrament because they converted on the spot of their martyrdom, such as what happened at Sebaste with a Roman soldier saying he wanted to join in and be with the Christians.
Dying for Christ without being ritually baptized.
Others died while catechumens, and yet were seen as followers of Christ.
God could and would welcome their faith, and so they would receive the grace of baptism as well.
St. Augustine made it very clear:
While the grace of baptism is necessary, those who died with faith and openness to God’s grace could and would receive it because God freely offers his grace to those who love him:
I have in mind those unbaptized persons who die confessing the name of Christ.
They receive the forgiveness of sins as completely as if they had been cleansed by the waters of baptism.
For, He who said: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,’ made exceptions in other decisions which are no less universal:
‘Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven’,
And again: ‘He who loses his life for my sake will find it.’[3]
The martyrs professed Christ, and so Christ received them into himself and the grace of the Holy Spirit was able to regenerate them, making them born again in their very death.
Many of them longed for baptism and were preparing for it but were martyred before they could receive it.
Others received the faith at the point of death and had not had the chance for catechism let alone baptism.
But their heart was with the Lord, open to him and his grace, and so they received, in and through their love, the grace from above and the Spirit of regeneration.
Salvation was possible for them because the sacrament was not held in contempt (so there is no disobedience, no rejection of Christ’s teachings), as Peter Lombard explained, using St Dismas as his prime example:
“See, you have here not only suffering, but also faith and contrition confer remission, where the sacrament is not held in contempt, as it shown by the example of the thief;
He was saved without baptism not by his suffering, but by faith.”[4]
This shows us that the grace of regeneration, known conventionally as baptism, can be given to those who do not reject that grace but are open to it, and open to following what is the norm to receive it if they can.
God loves humanity, and seeks their salvation, and so is not going to make impossible demands upon people and condemn them for accidents outside of their control.
He gives grace to all who are open to him and that grace; for those who come to know the church and the normative way to enter its community, they receive the grace through baptism;
For those who die preparing for baptism, or without the knowledge of its expectation, grace is available and salvation continues to be possible, as God judges through his merciful love.
Thus, the demand for baptism must be understood as a demand for the grace given out in baptism, and normally distributed by the church in baptism.
The Holy Spirit will continue to act as it wills, and give grace to those open to it, but those who reject it.
Those who close themselves off to it, such as those who know and understand the requirement of baptism but do not seek it out, then they risk perdition, as Peter Lombard explained:
But the Lord’s words are to be understood of those who can be baptized, but contemptuously fail to do so.
Or they are to be understood in this sense: Unless a man is reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, that is, by the regeneration which is done by water and the Holy Spirit, he shall not be saved.
However, that regeneration is not brought about only through baptism, but also through penance and blood.[5]
If someone does not know about the ritual of baptism, then they cannot be said to hold it in contempt.
God is not bound by the way he directs the church to spread his grace through the sacraments.
God can save those who are open to him and his grace.
God will judge people inasmuch as they know and understand his expectations.
Those invincibly ignorant will be judged for what they understand, and whether or not they open themselves to God in accordance to what they can and do know of him.
This is why those, who of no fault of their own, who have not been ritually baptized, can still be saved;
It is not because they do not receive the grace of baptism, which is necessary, but because God grants it to them in a way which only he knows.
Unless God has given us special revelation, we do not know who would be saved in this fashion.
We must not presume someone’s salvation or perdition.
Even if someone is told they must be baptized, this does not mean they will understand that expectation, and so if they deny it, it does not mean they are necessarily denying God and his grace:
They could be, but invincible ignorance shows other possibilities exist as well.
Their position and relationship with God is known by God, not us;
All that we know is that regenerative grace is given in baptism, and that those who are properly baptized will receive it, being forgiven of their sins, and so said to be born again through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Invincible ignorance is up to God to determine, for only God knows if someone is or is not invincibly ignorant;
What is up to us is to follow with what we know and understand.
To obey God and to let ourselves receive grace in the way he wants us to do with the ritual of baptism as the normative entrance into the new covenant and to reach out to others.
Minister to them, and encourage them to follow with us and be baptized so as to receive the bountiful grace which God offers to those who follow him.
[1] St. Bonaventure, Breviloquium. T***s. Erwin Esser Nemmers (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder, 1946), 176-7.
[2] Godfrey of St. Victor “Sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin,” in Victorine Texts in T***slation. Writings on the Spiritual Life. ed. Christopher P. Evans (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2014). 495.
[3] Saint Augustine, City of God Books VIII – XVI. T***s. Gerald G. .Walsh SJ and Grace Monahan OSU (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1952), 307 [XIII.7]
[4] Peter Lombard, The Sentences. Book 4: On the Doctrine of the Signs. t***s. Giulio Silano (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2010), 22 [IV.iv-4.3].
[5] Ibid., 23 [IV.iv-4.7].
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