On Baptism

Chapters

1. Chapter 1. Introduction. Origin of the Treatise

2. Chapter 2. The Very Simplicity of God's Means of Working, a Stumbling-Block to the Carnal Mind

3. Chapter 3. Water Chosen as a Vehicle of Divine Operation and Wherefore. Its Prominence First of All in Creation

4. Chapter 4. The Primeval Hovering of the Spirit of God Over the Waters Typical of Baptism. The Universal Element of Water Thus Made a Channel of San...

5. Chapter 5. Use Made of Water by the Heathen. Type of the Angel at the Pool of Bethsaida.

6. Chapter 6. The Angel the Forerunner of the Holy Spirit. Meaning Contained in the Baptismal Formula

7. Chapter 7. Of the Unction

8. Chapter 8. Of the Imposition of Hands. Types of the Deluge and the Dove

9. Chapter 9. Types of the Red Sea, and the Water from the Rock

10. Chapter 10. Of John's Baptism

11. Chapter 11. Answer to the Objection that The Lord Did Not Baptize.

12. Chapter 12. Of the Necessity of Baptism to Salvation

13. Chapter 13. Another Objection: Abraham Pleased God Without Being Baptized. Answer Thereto. Old Things Must Give Place to New, and Baptism is Now a Law

14. Chapter 14. Of Paul's Assertion, that He Had Not Been Sent to Baptize

15. Chapter 15. Unity of Baptism. Remarks on Heretical And Jewish Baptism

16. Chapter 16. Of the Second Baptism — With Blood

17. Chapter 17. Of the Power of Conferring Baptism

18. Chapter 18. Of the Persons to Whom, and the Time When, Baptism is to Be Administered

19. Chapter 19. Of the Times Most Suitable for Baptism

20. Chapter 20. Of Preparation For, and Conduct After, the Reception of Baptism

🎧 On Baptism

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Chapter 6. The Angel the Forerunner of the Holy Spirit. Meaning Contained in the Baptismal Formula

IT IS NOT THAT WE RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE WATER ITSELF: Rather, in the water, under the witness of the angel, we are made clean and prepared for the Holy Spirit. Here too, a foreshadowing came first. In this way John was the Lord's forerunner beforehand, preparing His ways, as in Luke 1:76. In the same way, the angel, the witness of baptism, makes the paths straight for the Holy Spirit, who is about to come upon us, by washing away sins. Faith obtains this, when it is sealed in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For if every word is established by the mouth of three witnesses, then how much more does the number of the divine names also suffice to assure our hope? Through the blessing, we have these same three as witnesses of our faith, and we also have them as guarantees of our salvation. Moreover, after the pledge of both the testimony of faith and the promise of salvation under three witnesses, mention of the Church is necessarily added. Since wherever there are three, that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there is the Church, which is the body of the three.