water of Christ be one thing, and the water of a robber another, since certainly Christ was not a robber? Do you therefore baptize again after baptism by your robb'ei', and I will baptize again after the traditor, who is neither mine nor yours; or, if one must believe the documents which are produced, who is both mine and yours; or, if we are to believe the communion of the whole world rather than the party of Donatus, who is not mine, but yours. But, by a better and a sounder judgment, because it is according to the words of the apostle, every one of us shall bear his own burden;- nor is either that robber yours, if you are not yourselves robbers; nor does any tradiior belong to any one either of us or you, who is not himself a tradiior. And yet we are Catholics, who, following the spirit of that judgment, do not desert the unity of the Church; but you are heretics, who, on account of charges, whether true or false, which you have brought against certain men, are unwilling to maintain Christian charity with the seed of Abraham, Chap. 37. — 85. Petilianus said: "Butthat the truth of this may be made manifest from the apostles, we are taught by their actions, as it is written: 'It came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said. Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, ' Gen. xxii. i8 = Cal.
John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. '3 If, therefore, they were baptized that they might receive the Holy Ghost, why do not you, if you wish to receive the Holy Ghost, take measures to obtain a true renewing, after your falsehoods? And if we do ill in urging this, why do you seek after us? or at any rate, if it is an offense, condemn Paul in the first instance; the Paul who certainly washed off what had already existed, whereas we in you give baptism which as yet does not exist. For you do not, as we have often said before, wash with a true baptism; but you bring on men an ill repute by your empty name of a false baptism."
86. AuGUSTiN answered: "We bring no accusation against Paul, who gave to men the baptism of Christ because they had not the baptism of Christ, but the baptism, of John, according to their own reply; for, being asked. Unto what were ye baptized? they answered. Unto John's baptism; which has nothing to do with the baptism of Christ, and is neither. a part of it nor a step towards it. Otherwise, either at that time the water of the baptism of Christ was renewed a second time, or if the baptism of Christ was then made perfect by the two waters, the baptism is less perfect which is given now, because it is not given with the water which was given at the hands of John. But either one of these opinions it is impious and sacrilegious to entertain. Therefore Paul gave the baptism of Christ to those who had not the baptism of Christ, but only the baptism of John.
87. But v\4iy the baptism of John, which is not necessary now, was necessary at that time, I have explained elsewhere; and the question has no bearing on the point at issue between us at the present time, except so far as that it may appear that the baptism of John was one thing, the baptism of Christ another, — just as that baptism was a different thing with which the apostle says that our fathers were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, when they passed through the Red Sea under the guidance of Moses.-* For the law and the prophets up to the time of John the Baptist had sacraments which foreshadowed things to come; but the sacraments of our 3 Acts -xix. 1-7.
4 I Cor. X. I, 2.
Chap. XXXVIL] THE LETTERS OF PETILIAN, THE DONATIST.
5^3 time bear testimony that tliat has come already which the former sacraments foretold should come. John therefore was a foreteller of Christ nearer to Him in time than all who went before him. And because all the righteous men and prophets of former times desired to see the fulfillment of what, through the revelation of the Spirit, they foresaw would come to pass, — whence also the Lord Himself says, "That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them," ' — therefore it was said of John that he was more than a prophet, and that among all that were born of women there was none greater than he;- because to the righteous men who went before him it w^as only granted to foretell the coming of Christ, but to John it was given both to foretell Him m His absence and to behold His presence, so that it should be found that to him was made manifest what the others had desired. And therefore the sacrament of his baptism is still connected with the foretelling of Christ's coming, though as of something very soon to lie fulfilled, seeing that up to his time there were still foretellings of the first coming of our Lord, of which coming we have now announcements, but no longer predictions. But tae Lord, teaching the way of humility, con-:!escended to make use of the sacraments which He found here in reference to the foretelling of His coming, not in order to assist le operation of His cleansing, but as an example for our piety, that so He mght show to us with what reverence we ought to receive those sacraments which bear witness that He is already come, when He did not disdain to make use of those which foreshadowed His coming in the future. And John, therefore, though the nearest to Christ in point of time, and within one year of the same age with Him, yet, while lie was baptizing, went before the way of Christ who was still to come; for which reason it was said of him, "Behold, I send my messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee."^ And he himself preached, saymg, "There cometh one mightier than I after me. ' '•* Li like manner, therefore, the circumcision on the eighth day, which was given to the patriarchs, foretold our justification, to the putting away of carnal lusts through the resurrection of our Lord, which took place after tiie seventh day, which is the Sabbath-day, on the eighth, that is, the Lord's day, which fell on 'Jie third day after His burial; vet the infant Christ receiv- ' Matt..\iii. 17.
3 Mark i. 2; cp. Mai.
' Matt, xi 4 Mark i.
ed the same circumcision of the flesh, with its prophetic signification. And as the Passover, which was celebrated by the Jews with the slaying of a lamb, prefigured the passion of our Lord and His departure from this world to the Father, yet the same Lord celebrated the same Passover with His disciples, when they reminded Him of it, saying, Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat t!ie Passover? 3 so too He Himself also received the baptism of John, which formed a part of the latest foretelling' of His coming. But as the Jews' circumcision of the flesh is one thing, and the ceremony which we observe on the eighth day after persons are baptized is another;* and the Passover which the Jews still celebrate with the slaying of a lamb is one thing,'' and that which we receive in the body and blood of our Lord is another, — so the baptism of John was one thing, the baptism of Christ is another. For by the former series of rites the latter were foretold as destined to arrive; by these latter the others are declared to be fulfilled. And even thouafh Christ received the others, yet are they not necessary for us, who have received the Lord Himself who was foretold in them. But when the coming of our Lord was as yet recent, it was necessary for any one who had received the former that he should be imbued with the latter also; but it was wholly needless that any one who had been so imbued should be compelled to go back to the former rites.
88. Wherefore do not seek to raise confusion out of tie baptism of John, the source and intention of which was either such as I have here set forth; or if any other better explanation of it can be given, this much still is clear, that the baptism of John and the baptism of Christ are two distinct and separate things, and that the former was expressly called the baptism of John, as is clear both from the answer of those men whose case you quoted, and from the words of our Lord Himself, when he says, "The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?"* But the latter is never called the baptism of CKcilianus, or of Donatus, or of Augustin, or of Petilianus, but the baptism of Christ. For if you think that we are shameless, because we will not allow that any one should be bap- 5 Matt. xxvi. 17.
6 In his treatise on tiic Sermon on the Mount, Book 1. iv 12, Augustin again compares the "'i:i/,'fir;ttt\' ociaiuir u »i /i-rinrii iii quits in regeneyttlionc novi hoininis ceU'hraiinis" with the cir cumcision on the eighth day; and in Serm. 376, c. ii. 2, he says that the heads of tht infants were uncovered on the eighth day, asatoken of liberty. Cp. llinghani, Oyig. Sacr. XII. iv. 3.
7 Augustin apparently supposed that the sacriticeof the paschal lamb was still observed among the Jews of the dispersion; cp. Retract. I. x. 2. It was, however, forbidden them to sacrifice the Passover except in the place w'.uch the Lord should choose to place His name there; and hence the Jews, though they observe the other paschal solemnities, abstain from the sacrifice of the lamb. " Ma"- "•'«'• ^S- THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN, [Book II.
tized after baptism from us, although we see that men were baf tized again who had received the baptism of John, who certainly is incomparably greater than ourselves, will you maintain tiiat John and Optatus were of equal dignity? The thing appears ridiculous. And yet I fancy that you do not hold them to be equals, but consider Optatus the greater of the two. For the apostle baptized after baptism by John: you venture to baptize no one after baptism by Optatus. Was it because Optatus was in unity with you? I know not with what heart a theory like this can be maintained, if the friend of the Count,' who had in the Count a god for his companion, is said to have been in unit}'^, and the friend of the Bridegroom to have been excluded from it. But if John was preeminently in unity, and far more excellent and greater than all of us and all of you, and yet the Apostle Paul baptized after him, why do you then not baptize after Optatus? Unless indeed it be that your blindness brings you into such a strait that you should say that Optatus had the power of giving the Holy Spirit, and that John had not! And if you do not say this, for fear of being ridiculed for your madness even by the insane themselves, what answer will you be able to make when you are asked why men should have required to be baptized after receiving! baptism from John, while no one needs to be | baptized after receiving it from Optatus, i unless it be that the former were baptized with the baptism of John, while, whenever any one is baptized with the baptism of Christ, whether he be baptized by Paul or by Optatus,; there is no difference in the nature of his baptism, though there is so great a difference between Paul and Optatus? Return then, O ye transgressors, to a right mind,= and do not seek to weigh the sacraments of God by considerations of the characters and deeds of men. For the sacraments are holy through Him to whom they belong; but when taken in hand worthily, they bring reward, when unworthily, judgment. And although the men are not one who take in hand the sacrament of God worthily or unworthily, yet that which is taken in hand, whether worthily or unworthily, is the same; so that it does not become better or worse in itself, but only turns to the life or death of those who handle it in either case. And in respect of what you said, that " in those whom Paul baptized after they had received the baptism of John, he washed off what had already existed," you certainly would not have said it had you taken a moment to consider what you were saying.
For if the baptism of John required washing! off, it must, beyond all doubt, have had some! foulness in it. Why then should I press you further? Recollect or read, and see whence John received it, so shall you see against j whom you have uttered that blasphemy; and when you have discovered this, your heart will surely be beaten, if a rein be not set on your tengue.
I Gildo; see above, 23, 53.
2 Isa.
89. To come next to what you think you say against us with so much point: " If we do ill in urging this, why do you seek after us?'* cannot you even yet call to mind that only those are sought after who have perished? Or is the incapacity for seeing this an elcv ment in your ruin? For the sheep might say to the shepherd with equal absurdity, If I do wrong in straying from the flock, why do you search after me? not understanding that the very reason why it is being sought is because it thinks there is no need for seeking it. But who is there that seeks for you, either through His Scriptures, or by catholic and conciliatory voices, or by the scourgings of temporal afflictions, save only Him who dispenses that mercy to you in all things? We therefore seek you that we may find you; for we love you that you should have life, with the same intensity with which we hate your error, that it might be destroyed which seeks to ruin you, so long as it is not itself involved in your destruction. And would to God that we might seek you in such a manner as even to find, and be able to say with rejoicing of each one of you, " He was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found! " ^ Chap, 38. — 90, Petilianus said: "If you declare that you hold the Catholic Church, the word ' catholic ' is merely the Greek equivalent for entire or whole. But it is clear that you are not in the whole, because you have gone aside into the part,'' 91. AuGUSTiN answered: I too mdeed have attained to a very slight knowledge of the Greek language, scarcely to be called knowledge at all, yet I am not shameless in saying that I know that o/ov means not "one," but " the whole; " and that y.aO' oXov means " according to the whole:" whence the Catholic Church received its name, according to the saying of the Lord, "It is not for you to know the times, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth," * Here you have the 3 Luke XV, 32, 4 Acts i. 7, Chap. XXXIX.] THE LETTERS OF PETILIAN, THE DONATIST.
DDD origin of the name " Catholic." But you are so bent upon runnmg with your eyes shut against the mountain which grew out of a small stone, according to the prophecy of Daniel, and filled the whole earth,' that you actually tell us that we have gone aside into a part, and are not in the whole among those whose communion is spread throughout the whole earth. But just in the same way as, supposing you were to say that I was Petilianus, I should not be able to find any method of refuting you unless I were to laugh at you as being in jest, or mourn over you as being mad, so in the present case I see that I have no other choice but this; and since I do not believe that you are in jest, you see what alternative remains.
Chap, 39. — 92. — Petilianus said: "But there is no fellowship of darkness with light, nor any fellowship of bitterness with the sweet of honey; there is no fellowship of life with death, of innocence with guilt, of water with Mood; the lees have no fellowship with oi, though they are related to it as being its dregs, but everything that is reprobate will flow away. It is the very sink of iniquity; according to the saying of John, ' They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt nave continued with us.'- There is no gold among their pollution: all that is precious has lieen purged away. For it is written, 'As '^n\d is tried in the furnace, so also are the just tried by the harassing of tribulation.' ^ Cruelty is not a part of gentleness, nor re-];L,non a part of sacrilege; nor can the party ■ f Macarius* in anyway be part of us, beiiise he pollutes the likeness of our rite.
lor the enemy's line, which fills up an enemy's name, is no part of the force to wiiich it is opposed; but if it is truly to be .lied a part, it will find a suitable motto in ■ e judgment of Solomon, ' Let their part be It off from the earth.' "5 93. AuGUSTiN answered: What is it but sheer madness to utter these taunts without proving anything? You look at the tares throughout the world, and pay no heed to the wheat, although both have been bidden to grow together throughout the whole of it. You look at the seed sown by the wicked one, which shall be separated in the time of harvest,* and you pay no heed to the seed of Abraham, in which all nations of the earth ' Dan. ii. 35. 21 John ii. 19.
3 Apparently from Wisd. iii. 6.
4 Macarius acted as imperial commissioner with Paulus, c. 34S, to settle the disputes between Donatists and Catholics, but only to the further exasperation of the former, who accused him of intrusion and murder, and thereafter called their opponents Macarians.
5 Prov. ii. 22. 6 Matt. xiii. 24-30.
shall be blessed.^ Just as though you were already a purged mass, and virgin honey, and refined oil, and pure gold, or rather the very similitude of a whited wall. For, to say nothing of your other faults, do the drunken form a portion of the sober, or are the covetous reckoned among the portion of the wise? If men of gentle temper appropriate the term of light, where shall the madness of the Circumcelliones be esteemed to be, excepting in the darkness? Why then is baptism, given by men like these, held valid among you, and the same baptism of Christ not held valid, by whatsoever men it may be administered throughout the world? You see, in fact, that you are separated from the communion of the whole world in so far as this, that you are not indeed all drunk, nor all of you covetous, nor all men of violence, but that you are all heretics, and, in virtue of this, are all impious and all sacrilegious.
94. But as to your saying that the whole world that rejoices in Christian communion is the party of iSLacarius, who with any remnant of sanity in his brain could make such a stacement? But because we say that you are of the party of Donatus, you therefore seek for a man of whose party you may say we are; and, being in a great strait, you mention the name of some obscure person, who, if he is known in Africa, is certainly unknown in any other quarter of the globe. And therefore hearken to the answer made to you by all the seed of Abraham from every corner of tlie earth: Of that Macarius, to whose party you assert us to belong, we know absolutely nothing. Can you reply in turn that you know nothing of Donatus? But even if we were to say that you are the party of Optatus, which of you can say that he is unacquainted with Optatus, unless in the sense that he does not know him personally, as perhaps he does not know Donatus either? But you acknowledge that you rejoice in the name of Donatus, do you also take any pleasure in the name of Optatus? What then can the name of Donatus profit you, when all of you alike are polluted by Optatus? What advantage can you derive from the sobriety of Donatus, when you are defiled by the drunkenness of tlie Circumcelliones? What, according to your views, are you profited by the innocence of Donatus, when you are stained by the rapacity of Optatus? For this is your mistake, that you think that the unrighteousness of a man has more power in infecting his neighbor than the righteousness of a man has in purifying those around him. Therefore, if two share 7 Gen..\xii. 18.
[Book II.
in common the sacraments of God, the one a just man, the other an unrighteous one, but so that neither the former should imitate the unrighteousness of the latter, nor the latter the righteousness of the former, you say that the result is not that both are made just, but t'-.at both are made unrighteous; so that also that holy thing, which both receive' in common, becomes unclean and loses its original holiness. When does unrighteousness find for herself such advocates as these, through whose madness she is esteemed victorious? How comes it then that, in the midst of such mistaken perversity, you congratulate yourselves upon the name of Donatus, when it shows not that Petilianus deserv'es to be what Donatus is, but that Donatus is compelled to be what Optatus is? But let the house of Israel say, "God is my portion for ever;"' let the seed of Abraham say in all nations, " The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance. " - For they know how to speak through the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. For you, too, through the sacrament which is in you, like Caiaphas the persecutor of the Lord, prophesy without being aware of it.^ For what in Greek is expressed by the word May.dp'.(>i is in our language simply " Blessed; " and in this way certainly we are of the party of Macarius, the Blessed One. For what is more blessed than Christ, of whose party we are, after whom all the ends of the earth are called, and to whom they all are turned, and in whose sight all the countries of the nations worship? Therefore the party of this JNIacarius, that is to say, of this Blessed One, feels no apprehension at your last curse, distorted from the words of Solomon, lest it should perish from the earth. For what is said by him of the impious you endeavor to apply to the inheritance of Christ, and you strive to prove that this has been achieved with inexpressible impiety; for when he was speaking of the impious, he says, " Let their portion perish from off the earth."'' But when you say, with reference to the words of Scripture, " I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance," ^ and " all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord,"* that the promise contained in them has already perished from the earth, 3-ou are seeking to turn against the inheritance of Christ what was foretold about the lot of the impious; but so long as the inheritance of Christ endures and increases, you are perishing in sa}--ing such things. For you are not in every case prophesying through the sacrament of God, since in this case you are merely utter- I Ps. Ixxiii. z6. 4 Prov. ii. 22.
2 Ps. xvi. S Ps. ii. 8.
'i John xi. 51. 6 Ps. xxii. 27.
ing evil wishes through your own madness. But the prophecy of the true prophets is morel powerful than the evil speaking of the falsef prophets.
Chap. 40. — 95. Petilianus said: "Paul! the apostle also bids us, ' Be ye not unequallyl yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship! hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and! what communion hath light with darkness?j and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or| what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" ^ 96. AuGUSTiN answered: I recognize the| words of the apostle; but how they can help you I cannot see at all. For which of us saysj that there is any fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness, even though thai righteous and the unrighteous, as in the case of Judas and Peter, should be alike partakers of the sacraments? For from one and the same holy thing Judas received judgment to himself and Peter salvation, just as you received! the sacrament with Optatus, and, if you were| unlike him, were not therefore partakers inj his robberies. Or is robbery not unrighteousness? Who would bemad enough to assert I that? What fellowship was there, then, on the part of your righteousness with his unrighteousness, when you approached together to the same altar?
Chap. 41. — 97. Petilianus said: "And, again, he taught us that schisms should not arise, in the following terms: 'Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of ApoUos, and I of Cephas, and 1 of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? ' " ^ 98. AuGUSTiN answered. Remember all of you who read this, it was Petilianus who quoted these words from the apostle. For who could have believed that he would have brought forward words which tell so much for us against himself?
Chap, 42. — 99. Petilianus said: " If Paul uttered these words to the unlearned and to the righteous, I say this to you who are unrighteous. Is Ciirist divided, that you should separate yourselves from the Church?"
100. AuGUSTiN answered: I am afraid lest any one should think that in this work of mine the writer has made a mistake, and has written the heading Fctiliaiuis said, when he ought to have written Attgttsim answered. But I see what your object is: you wished, as iCor VI. 14, 15.
I HAP. XLV.]
THE LETTERS OF PETILIAX, THE DONATIST.
55!
Mt were, to preoccupy the ground, lest we should Hiring those words in testimony against j^ou. iBut what have you really done, except to 'cause them to be quoted twice? If, there- 'fore, you are so much pleased with hearing Itiie words which make against you, as to rentier It necessary that they should be repeated,:ar, I pray you, these words as coming from hit', Petilianus: Is Christ divided, that you 'should separate yourselves from the Church?
Chap. 43. — loi. Petilianus said: " Can it lie that the traitor Judas hung himself for vou, or did he imbue you with his character, tiiat, following his deeds, you should seize rm the treasures of the Church, and sell for money to the powers of this world us who are tne heirs of Christ?"
102. AuGUSTiN answered: Judas did not die for us, but Christ, to whom the Church dispersed throughout the world says, "So siiall I have wherewith to answer him that re- : proacheth me: for I trust in Thy word."' When, therefore, I hear the words of the lord, saying, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth," = and through the voice of His prophet, " Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words into the ends of the world, "3 no ] odily admixture of evil ever is able to disturb me, if I know how to say, " Be surety •' r Thy servant for good: let not the proud 'press me.""* I do not, therefore, concern myself about a vain calumniation when I have :i substantial promise. But if you complain 1' out matters or places appertaining to the 'lurch, which you used once to hold, and ' 'Id no longer, then the Jews also may say * at they are righteous, and reproach us with irighteousness, because the Christians now occupy the place in which of old they mipiously reigned. What then is there unfitting, if, according to a similar will of the Lord, the Catholics now hold the things which formerly the heretics used to have? For against all such men as this, that is to say, against all impious and unrighteous men, those words of the Lord have force, " The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and be given to a nation liringing forth the fruits thereof; "^ or is it written in vain, '' The righteous shall eat of the labors of the impious "?* Wherefore you ought rather to be amazed that you still possess something, than that there is something which you have lost. But neither need you wonder even at this, for it is by degrees that the whitened wall falls down.
' Ps. cxix. 42. ^ Ps. cxix. 122.
2 Acts i. 8.
5 Matt. xxi. 43.
3 Ps. xix. 4.
6 Ps. cv. 44.