文集與書信 第 13 章

THE OPINIONS OF EIGHTY-SEVEN BISHOPS CONCERNING THE BAPTIZING OF HERETICS. When on the Kalends of September a great many bishops from the province of Africa, Numidia, and Mauretania had assembled together at Carthage, with their presbyters and deacons, the greatest part of the people also being present, and when the letters of Iubaianus written to Cyprian had been read, likewise Cyprian's letters written back to Iubaianus concerning the baptizing of heretics, and what afterwards the same Iubaianus had written back to Cyprian, Cyprian said:

You have heard, most beloved colleagues, what Iubaianus, our fellow-bishop, has written to me, consulting our littleness concerning the unlawful and profane baptism of heretics, and what I have written back to him, judging, namely, what we have once and again and often judged: that heretics coming to the Church ought to be baptized and sanctified with the Church's baptism. Likewise there have been read to you other letters of Iubaianus in which, out of his sincere and religious devotion, writing back to our epistle, he not only consented, but also confessed himself instructed and gave thanks. It remains that concerning this very matter we each declare what we think, judging no one, nor removing anyone from the right of communion if he should think differently.

For neither does any one of us set himself up as a bishop of bishops, or by tyrannical terror compel his colleagues to the necessity of obedience, since every bishop, according to the allowance of his liberty and power, has his own free judgment, and can no more be judged by another than he himself can judge another. But let us all await the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone and singly has the power both of setting us in the government of his Church and of judging concerning our act. Caecilius of Biltha said: I know one baptism in the Church alone, and outside the Church none. Here will be the one, where the hope is true and the faith certain. For thus it is written:

One faith, one hope, one baptism—not among heretics, where there is no hope and the faith is false, where all things are wrought through falsehood; where a demoniac exorcizes, asks the questions of the sacrament, whose mouth and words emit a cancer; where the faithless gives faith, the wicked grants pardon of sins, and antichrist baptizes in the name of Christ; where one cursed by God blesses, a dead man promises life, one without peace gives peace, a blasphemer invokes God, a profane man administers the priesthood, a sacrilegious man sets up the altar; and to all these evils is added even this, that an officer of the devil dares to make the Eucharist. Either let those who stand by them say that all these things are false concerning the heretics. Behold to what things,

that therefore the Church is compelled to consent, and to hold communion without baptism and without pardon of sins. This thing, brethren, we ought to flee and to avoid, and to separate ourselves from so great a crime, and to hold the one baptism which has been granted by the Lord to the Church alone. Primus of Misgirpa said: I judge that every man coming from heresy is to be baptized. For in vain does he there think himself baptized, since there is no baptism save the one and true baptism in the Church; because both God is one and faith is one and the Church is one, in which stands the one baptism and holiness and the rest. For the things that are practiced outside have no saving effect. Polycarp of Hadrumetum said: He who approves the baptism of heretics makes void our own. Novatus of Thamugadi said:

Although we know that all the Scriptures bear witness to themselves concerning the saving baptism, we ought therefore to express our faith, namely that heretics and schismatics coming to the Church, who appear to have been falsely baptized, ought to be baptized in the everlasting fountain; and therefore, according to the testimony of the Scriptures and according to the decree of our colleagues, men of most holy memory, I have baptized all the schismatics and heretics who have turned to the Church, but those also who appeared to have been ordained I have received as laymen. Nemesianus of Thubunae said:

That the baptism which heretics and schismatics give is not true, has everywhere been declared in the holy Scriptures, since their very leaders are false Christs and false prophets, the Lord saying through Solomon: He who relies on what is false feeds the winds; the same man also pursues flying birds. For he has forsaken the ways of his own vineyard, and has strayed from the paths of his own little field; he goes through pathless and arid places and a land set for thirst, and he gathers with his hands what is fruitless. And again: But abstain from another's water, and drink not from a strange fountain, that you may live a long time, and that years of life may be added to you. And in the Gospel our Lord Christ spoke with his divine voice, saying:

Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. This is the Spirit which from the beginning was borne over the water; for neither can the Spirit operate separately without the water, nor the water without the Spirit. Ill therefore do certain men interpret it for themselves, when they say that they receive the Holy Spirit by the imposition of hands and so are received, when it is manifest that they ought to be born again by both sacraments in the catholic Church. Then shall they be able to be sons of God, the Apostle saying: Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism. All these things the catholic Church speaks.

And again in the Gospel the Lord says: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, because God is Spirit, and is born of God. Therefore all heretics and schismatics, whatever things they do, are carnal, the Apostle saying: For the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornications, uncleannesses, incest, the bondage of idolatries, sorceries, enmities, contentions, jealousy, wrath, divisions, heresies, and the like; concerning which I foretold you, as I foretell, that whoever do these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And so the Apostle condemns, together with all the wicked, those also who make division, that is, schismatics and heretics.

Unless therefore they receive the saving baptism in the catholic Church, which is one, they cannot be saved, but shall be condemned together with the carnal in the judgment of the Lord Christ. Ianuarius of Lambaesis said: According to the authority of the holy Scriptures I decree that all heretics are to be baptized, and so admitted into the holy Church. Lucius of Castra Galbae said: Since the Lord in his Gospel has said: You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, with what shall it be seasoned? Thenceforth it is good for nothing, save to be cast forth and trodden underfoot by men. And again, after his resurrection, sending his apostles, he commands, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

Go therefore and teach the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Since therefore it is manifest that heretics, that is, the enemies of Christ, do not have the complete confession of the sacrament, and likewise schismatics cannot season with spiritual wisdom—since they themselves, by departing from the Church which is one, have been made tasteless and contrary—let it be done as it is written: The houses of those contrary to the law owe cleansing; and it follows that those who have been baptized by the contrary and so defiled should first be purged and then at length baptized. Crescens of Cirta said:

In so great an assembly of most holy fellow-priests, the letters of our most beloved Cyprian to Iubaianus and likewise to Stephen having been read, which contain in themselves so many testimonies of the most holy men, drawn from the divine Scriptures, that, deservedly united by the grace of God, we all ought to consent—I therefore judge that all heretics and schismatics who shall have wished to come to the catholic Church should not enter before unless they have first been exorcized and baptized, with the exception, of course, of those who had previously been baptized in the catholic Church; these, however, should be reconciled through the imposition of hands in the penance of the Church. Nicomedes of Segermes said:

My opinion is this, that heretics coming to the Church should be baptized, for the reason that they obtain no remission of sins outside, among sinners. Monnulus of Girba said: The truth of the catholic Church, our mother, has both remained and remains with us, brethren, for the reason that in baptism there is the Trinity, our Lord saying: Go and baptize the nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Since therefore we manifestly know that heretics have neither the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit, those who come ought to come to the Church our mother, to be born again and baptized, that the cancer which they had, and the wrath of damnation and the contagion of error, may be sanctified through the holy and heavenly laver. Secundinus of Cedias said:

Since our Lord Christ says, 'He who is not with me is against me,' and the apostle John calls those who go out from the Church antichrists, without doubt the enemies of Christ, who have been named antichrists, cannot administer the grace of the saving baptism. And therefore I judge that those who flee to the Church from the snares of the heretics ought to be baptized by us, who have been called the friends of God by His own favor. Felix of Bagai said: 'As a blind man leading a blind man, so they shall fall into the pit'; so too a heretic baptizing a heretic shall fall together into death. And therefore the heretic must be baptized and made alive, lest we who live commune with the dead. Polianus of Mileum said: It is just that a heretic be baptized in the holy Church.

Theogenes of Hippo Regius said: According to the sacrament of God's heavenly grace which we have received, we believe in the one baptism which is in the holy Church. Dativus of Vada said: As far as it lies in us, we do not commune with a heretic, unless he has been baptized in the Church and has received the remission of sins. Successus of Abbir Germaniciana said: For heretics either nothing is lawful or everything is lawful. If they can baptize, they can also give the Holy Spirit; but if they cannot give the Holy Spirit, because they do not have the Holy Spirit, then neither can they baptize spiritually. Therefore we judge that heretics must be baptized. Fortunatus of Thuccabori said:

Jesus Christ our Lord and God, the Son of God the Father and Creator, built His Church upon Peter, not upon heresy, and He gave the power of baptizing to the bishops, not to the heretics. Wherefore those who are outside the Church, and who, standing against Christ, scatter His sheep and His flock, cannot baptize outside. Sedatus of Thuburbo said: Just as the water sanctified in the Church by the priest's prayer washes away offenses, so by the heretical word, as though infected with a cancer, it heaps up sins. Wherefore with all peaceable strength we must strive that no one who has been infected and dipped in heretical error should refuse to receive the singular and true baptism of the Church, without which whoever has not been baptized shall become a stranger to the kingdom of heaven.

Privatianus of Sufetula said: Let him who says that heretics have the power of baptizing first say who founded heresy. For if heresy is from God, it can also have the divine indulgence; but if it is not from God, how can it either have or confer upon anyone the grace of God? Privatus of Sufes said: He who approves the baptism of heretics, what else does he do but commune with heretics? Hortensianus of Lares said: Let the presumptuous men or the supporters of heretics look to it: we claim for the Church the one baptism which we know nowhere but in the Church. Or how can those baptize anyone in the name of Christ whom Christ Himself declares to be His adversaries? Cassius of Macomades said:

Since there cannot be two baptisms, he who grants baptism to heretics takes it away from himself. I therefore judge that the wretched and decaying heretics must be baptized, when they begin to come to the Church, and being washed with the sacred and divine washing and enlightened in the light of life, must be received into the Church not as enemies but as men of peace, not as strangers but as members of the household of the Lord's faith, not as adulterers but as sons of God, made men not of error but of salvation -- except for those of the faithful of the Church who, being subverted, had passed over to the darkness of heresy; but these are to be restored by the laying on of hands. Another Ianuarius of Vicus Caesaris said: If error does not yield to truth, much more does truth not consent to error.

And therefore we, who preside over the Church in which we stand, claiming her baptism for ourselves alone, baptize those whom the Church has not baptized. Another, Secundinus of Carpos, said: Are heretics Christians or not? If they are Christians, why are they not in the Church of God? If they are not Christians, let them become so. Or to what purpose is the word of the Lord who says, 'He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters'? Hence it is established that the Holy Spirit cannot descend by the laying on of hands upon strangers' sons and the offspring of antichrist -- not only that, but it is manifest that heretics do not have baptism. Victoricus of Thabraca said:

If it is lawful for heretics to baptize and to give the remission of sins, why do we defame them and call them heretics? Another, Felix of Uthina, said: It is doubtful to no one, most holy fellow-priests, that human presumption can avail not nearly so much as the adorable and venerable majesty of our Lord Christ. Mindful therefore of the danger, we ought not only to observe this, but also to confirm it on behalf of us all, that all heretics who run to the bosom of mother Church be baptized, so that the heretical mind, which has been polluted by a long-standing corruption, being cleansed by the sanctification of the laver, may be reformed for the better. Quietus of Buruc said:

We who live by faith ought, with believing observance, to obey those things which were foretold for our instruction. For it is written in Solomon: 'He who is baptized by a dead man, what does his washing profit him?' This certainly speaks of those who are dipped by heretics, and of those who do the dipping. For if those who are baptized among them obtain eternal life through the remission of sins, why do they come to the Church? But if nothing of salvation is received from a dead man, and therefore, having recognized their former error, they return to the truth with penance, it is manifest that they ought also to be sanctified by the one life-giving baptism which is in the Catholic Church. Castus of Sicca said:

He who, despising the truth, presumes to follow custom, is either envious and malignant toward the brethren to whom the truth is revealed, or ungrateful toward God, by whose inspiration His Church is instructed. Eucratius of Theni said: Our faith, the grace of baptism, and the rule of ecclesiastical law, our Lord and God Jesus Christ fulfilled, teaching the apostles with His own mouth, saying: 'Go and teach the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' Therefore the false and iniquitous baptism of the heretics must be driven away by us and refuted with all protestation, from whose mouth poison, not life, is brought forth -- not the heavenly grace, but the blasphemy of the Trinity.

And therefore it is manifest that heretics coming to the Church ought to be baptized with the whole and Catholic baptism, so that, being purified from their blasphemous presumption, they may be reformed by the glory of the Holy Spirit. Libosus of Vaga said: In the Gospel the Lord says, 'I am the truth.' He did not say, 'I am custom.' Therefore, the truth being made manifest, let custom yield to truth; so that, even if in time past someone did not baptize heretics in the Church, let him now begin to baptize. Leucius of Theveste said: I judge that the heretics, blasphemers and iniquitous men who tear at the holy and adorable words of the Scriptures with empty words, are to be held in execration, and therefore to be exorcized and baptized. Eugenius of Ammedera said:

I too judge this same thing, that heretics must be baptized. Likewise another, Felix of Bamaccora, said: Behold, following the authority of the divine Scriptures, I judge that heretics must be baptized, and also those who contend that they were baptized as schismatics. For if, according to the command of Christ, our fountain is our own, let all the adversaries of our Church understand that it cannot belong to a stranger. Nor can he who is the shepherd of one flock impart the water of salvation to two peoples. And therefore it is manifest that neither heretics nor schismatics can receive anything heavenly, who dare to receive from sinful men estranged from the Church. When there is no place for one giving, surely it profits nothing for one receiving.

Likewise another, Ianuarius of Muzula, said: I marvel that, though all confess there is one baptism, not all understand the unity of that same baptism. For the Church and heresy are two distinct and different things. If heretics have baptism, we do not have it; but if we have it, heretics cannot have it. There is no doubt that the Church alone possesses the baptism of Christ, she who alone possesses both the grace and the truth of Christ. Adelphius of Thasualthe said: Without cause certain men assail the truth with a false and envious word, saying that we rebaptize, when the Church does not rebaptize heretics but baptizes them. Demetrius of Leptiminus said: We guard the one baptism, because we claim for the Church alone what is her own.

But those who say that heretics truly and lawfully baptize are themselves the ones who make not two but many baptisms. For since the heresies are many, the baptisms would be reckoned according to their number. Vincentius of Thibaris said: We know that heretics are worse than the heathen. If, being converted, they wish to come to the Lord, they certainly have the rule of truth which the Lord commanded the apostles by His divine precept, saying: 'Go, in my name lay on hands, cast out demons.' And in another place: 'Go and teach the nations, dipping them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' Therefore first by the laying on of hands in exorcism, second by the regeneration of baptism, then they can attain to the promise of Christ:

but not otherwise. Marcus of Maothari said: It is no wonder if heretics, the enemies and assailants of truth, claim for themselves what belongs to another's power and dignity. This is the wonder, that certain prevaricators of the truth among us take the side of heretics and oppose Christians. Therefore we have decreed that heretics must be baptized. Sattius of Sicilibba said: If sins are forgiven to heretics in their baptism, they come to the Church without cause. For since on the day of judgment it is sins that are punished, there is nothing the heretics can fear concerning the judgment of Christ, if they have obtained the remission of sins. Victor of Gordoba said:

Since sins are not remitted except in the baptism of the Church, he who admits a heretic to communion without baptism does both things contrary to reason: he neither purges the heretics nor leaves the Christians unpolluted. Aurelius of Utica said: Since the apostle says that we must not commune in others' sins, what else does he do but commune in others' sins, who communes with heretics without the baptism of the Church? And therefore I judge that heretics must be baptized, that they may receive the remission of sins, and so be admitted to communion. Iambus of Germaniciana said: Those who approve the baptism of heretics disapprove of ours, so as to deny that men who outside the Church are -- I will not say washed, but soiled -- ought to be baptized in the Church. Lucianus of Rucuma said: It is written:

'And God saw the light, that it was good, and divided between the light and the darkness.' If light and darkness can agree, then we and heretics can have something in common. Therefore I judge that heretics must be baptized. Pelagianus of Luperciana said: It is written, 'For either God is God, or Baal is God.' So too now, either the Church is the Church, or heresy is the Church. Further, if heresy is not the Church, how can the baptism of the Church be among heretics? Iader of Midila said: We know that there is but one baptism in the Catholic Church, and therefore we ought not to admit a heretic unless he has been baptized among us, lest he think himself baptized outside the Catholic Church. Likewise another, Felix of Marasana, said:

One faith, one baptism, but of the Catholic Church, to whom alone it is permitted to baptize. Paulus of Obba said: It does not move me if someone does not vindicate the faith and truth of the Church, since the apostle says: 'For what if some of them have fallen from the faith? Has their unbelief made void the faith of God? God forbid. For God is truthful, but every man is a liar.' But if God is truthful, how can the truth of baptism be among heretics, among whom God is not? Pomponius of Dionysiana said: It is manifest that heretics cannot baptize and give the remission of sins, who do not have the power either to loose or to bind anything on earth. Venantius of Thinisa said:

If a husband, going abroad, had entrusted his wife to his friend to be guarded, that friend would keep her thus entrusted to him with all the diligence he could, lest her chastity and holiness be defiled by anyone. Christ our Lord and God, going to the Father, entrusted His bride to us. Do we guard her uncorrupted and inviolate, or do we betray her integrity and chastity to adulterers and corrupters? For he who makes the baptism of the Church common with heretics betrays the bride of Christ to adulterers. Ahymnus of Ausuaga said: We have received one baptism, and that one we exercise. But he who says that it is lawful for heretics to baptize, himself makes two baptisms. Saturninus of Victoriana said:

If it is lawful for heretics to baptize, then those who do unlawful things are excused and defended, and I do not see why Christ should have called them His adversaries, or the apostle called them antichrists. Another, Saturninus of Tucca, said: The Gentiles, although they worship idols, yet acknowledge and confess the supreme God, the Father and Creator. Against Him Marcion blasphemes; and certain men are not ashamed to approve the baptism of Marcion. How do such priests either keep or vindicate the priesthood of God, who do not baptize the enemies of God and yet commune with them? Marcellus of Zama said: Since sins are not remitted except in the baptism of the Church, he who does not baptize a heretic communes with a sinner. Irenaeus of Ululis said:

If for this reason the Church does not baptize a heretic, namely because he is said to be already baptized, the heresy is the greater. Donatus of Cibaliana said: I know one Church and one baptism of hers. If there is anyone who says that the grace of baptism is among heretics, he must first show and prove that the Church is there. Zosimus of Tharassa said: The truth having been revealed, let error yield to truth; for even Peter, who formerly circumcised, yielded to Paul preaching the truth. Iulianus of Telepte said: It is written, 'No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.' If heresy is from heaven, it can also give baptism. Faustus of Timida Regia said: Let those who patronize heretics not flatter themselves.

He who intercedes for heretics by ecclesiastical baptism makes them Christians and us heretics. Geminius of Furni said: Some of our colleagues may prefer heretics to themselves, but they cannot prefer them to us. And therefore what we have once decreed we hold: that we baptize heretics who come to us. Rogatianus of Nova said: Christ instituted the Church, the devil instituted heresy. How can the synagogue of Satan have the baptism of Christ? Therapius of Bulla said: He who grants and betrays the Church's baptism to heretics, what else is he but a Judas to the bride of Christ? Likewise another, Lucius of Membresa, said: It is written, 'God does not hear a sinner.' A heretic, who is a sinner, how can he be heard in baptism?

Likewise another, Felix of Buslacenae, said: In the matter of admitting heretics without the Church's baptism, let no one prefer custom to reason and truth, for reason and truth always exclude custom. Another, Saturninus of Avitini, said: If antichrist can give to anyone the grace of Christ, then heretics, who have been called antichrists, can also baptize. Quintus of Aggya said: He who has something can give something. But what can heretics give, who it is agreed have nothing? Another, Iulianus of Marcelliana, said: If a man can serve two masters, God and mammon, then baptism too can serve two -- the Christian and the heretic. Tenax of Horrea Caelia said:

It is written that God is one, and Christ is one, and the Church is one, and baptism is one. How can anyone be baptized there, where God and Christ and the Church are not? Another, Victor of Assuras, said: Baptism is one, but it belongs to the Church. Where the Church is not, there baptism cannot be. Donatulus of Capsa said: I too have always held this, that heretics, who can obtain nothing outside, should be baptized when they are converted to the Church. Verulus of Rusiccada said: A heretical man cannot give what he does not have; much more a schismatic, who has lost what he had. Pudentianus of Cuicul said: The newness of my episcopate has made me wait, most beloved brethren, to see what my elders should judge.

For it is manifest that heresies have nothing and can do nothing. And so, if any of them come over, it is most justly judged that they be baptized. Petrus of Hippo Diarrhytus said: Since baptism is one in the Catholic Church, it is manifest that one cannot be baptized outside the Church. And therefore I judge that those dipped in heresy or in schism, when they come to the Church, ought to be baptized. Likewise another, Lucius of Ausafa, said: According to the movement of my mind and of the Holy Spirit, since there is one God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and one Christ, and one hope, and one Spirit in the Church, there is also one baptism. And therefore I say that whatever has been moved or done among heretics ought to be annulled, and that those who come from there ought to be baptized in the Church.

Likewise another, Felix of Gurgites, said: I judge that, according to the precepts of the holy Scriptures, those who have been unlawfully baptized by heretics outside the Church, if they wish to flee to the Church, should obtain the grace of baptism where it is lawfully given. Pusillus of Lamasba said: I believe that there is no saving baptism except in the Catholic Church. Whatever is outside the Catholic Church is a pretense. Salvianus of Gazaufala said: It is agreed that heretics have nothing, and therefore they come to us, that they may receive what they do not have. Honoratus of Thucca said:

Since Christ is the truth, we ought to follow truth rather than custom, so that we may sanctify with the Church's baptism the heretics who come to us for this reason, that outside they could receive nothing. Victor of Octavum said: As you yourselves also know, I was not appointed bishop long ago, and therefore I was awaiting the counsel of my predecessors. This therefore is my opinion: that those who come, since they are from heresy, should without doubt be baptized. Clarus of Mascula said: The sentence of our Lord Jesus Christ is manifest, sending His apostles and permitting to them alone the power given to Him by the Father, to whom we have succeeded, governing the Church of the Lord with the same power and baptizing the faith of believers.

And therefore heretics, who have neither power outside nor the Church of Christ, can baptize no one with His baptism. Secundianus of Thambis said: We ought not by our presumption to deceive heretics, lest, not being baptized in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore not having obtained the remission of sins, when the day of judgment comes they impute it to us that through us they were not baptized and did not obtain the indulgence of the divine grace. Wherefore, since there is one Church and one baptism, when they are converted to us, let them obtain together with the Church also the Church's baptism. Likewise another, Aurelius of Chullabi, said: The apostle John laid down in his epistle:

'If anyone comes to you and does not have the doctrine of Christ, do not receive him into your house, nor say to him, Hail. For he who says to him, Hail, communes with his evil deeds.' How can such men be rashly admitted into the house of God, who are forbidden to be admitted into your private house? Or how can we commune with them without the baptism of the Church, with whom, if we say to them only Hail, we commune in their evil deeds? Litteus of Gemellae said: 'If a blind man lead a blind man, both will fall into the pit.' Since therefore it is agreed that heretics, being blind, cannot enlighten anyone, their baptism is of no avail. Natalis of Oea said:

Both I who am present, and Pompeius of Sabrata, and also Dioga of Leptis Magna, who have charged me, being indeed absent in body but present in spirit, judge what our colleagues also judge: that heretics cannot have communion with us unless they have been baptized with the ecclesiastical baptism. Iunius of Neapolis said: I do not depart from what we once judged, that we baptize heretics coming to the Church. Cyprian of Carthage said:

My opinion is most fully expressed in the letter which was written to Iubaianus our colleague: that heretics, according to the evangelical and apostolic testimony, have been called the adversaries of Christ and antichrists, and that when they come to the Church they ought to be baptized with the one baptism of the Church, so that from adversaries they may become friends, and from antichrists, Christians. Printed by Carolus Gerold's Son.