▾
Augustine of Hippo, On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants
⎗←→⎘
▾
A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants
Chapter 1 [I.]—Introductory, in the Shape of an Inscription to His Friend Marcellinus.
Chapter 2 [II.]—If Adam Had Not Sinned, He Would Never Have Died.
Chapter 3 [III.]—It is One Thing to Be Mortal, Another Thing to Be Subject to Death.
Chapter 4 [IV.]—Even Bodily Death is from Sin.
Chapter 6 [VI.]—How It is that the Body Dead Because of Sin.
Chapter 8 [VIII.]—Bodily Death from Adam’s Sin.
Chapter 9 [IX.]—Sin Passes on to All Men by Natural Descent, and Not Merely by Imitation.
Chapter 10.—The Analogy of Grace.
Chapter 12.—The Law Could Not Take Away Sin.
Chapter 13 [XI.]—Meaning of the Apostle’s Phrase “The Reign of Death.”
Chapter 14.—Superabundance of Grace.
Chapter 15 [XII.]—The One Sin Common to All Men.
Chapter 16 [XIII.]—How Death is by One and Life by One.
Chapter 17.—Whom Sinners Imitate.
Chapter 18.—Only Christ Justifies.
Chapter 20.—Original Sin Alone is Contracted by Natural Birth.
Chapter 22 [XVII.]—To Infants Personal Sin is Not to Be Attributed.
Chapter 24 [XIX.]—Infants Saved as Sinners.
Chapter 26 [XX.]—No One, Except He Be Baptized, Rightly Comes to the Table of the Lord.
Chapter 27.—Infants Must Feed on Christ.
Chapter 28.—Baptized Infants, of the Faithful Unbaptized, of the Lost.
Chapter 29 [XXI.]—It is an Inscrutable Mystery Why Some are Saved, and Others Not.
Chapter 30.—Why One is Baptized and Another Not, Not Otherwise Inscrutable.
Chapter 32.—The Case of Certain Idiots and Simpletons.
Chapter 33.—Christ is the Saviour and Redeemer Even of Infants.
Chapter 35.—Unless Infants are Baptized, They Remain in Darkness.
Chapter 36.—Infants Not Enlightened as Soon as They are Born.
Chapter 37.—How God Enlightens Every Person.
Chapter 38.—What “Lighteth” Means.
Chapter 39 [XXVI.]—The Conclusion Drawn, that All are Involved in Original Sin.
Chapter 40 [XXVII.]—A Collection of Scripture Testimonies. From the Gospels.
Chapter 41.—From the First Epistle of Peter.
Chapter 42.—From the First Epistle of John.
Chapter 43.—From the Epistle to the Romans.
Chapter 44.—From the Epistles to the Corinthians.
Chapter 45.—From the Epistle to the Galatians.
Chapter 46.—From the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Chapter 47.—From the Epistle to the Colossians.
Chapter 48.—From the Epistles to Timothy.
Chapter 49.—From the Epistle to Titus.
Chapter 50.—From the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Chapter 51.—From the Apocalypse.
Chapter 52.—From the Acts of the Apostles.
Chapter 53.—The Utility of the Books of the Old Testament.
Chapter 56.—No One is Reconciled to God Except Through Christ.
Chapter 58 [XXX.]—In What Respect the Pelagians Regarded Baptism as Necessary for Infants.
Chapter 59.—The Context of Their Chief Text.
Chapter 62 [XXXIII.]—No One Can Be Reconciled to God, Except by Christ.
Chapter 63 [XXXIV.]—The Form, or Rite, of Baptism. Exorcism.
Chapter 64.—A Twofold Mistake Respecting Infants.
Chapter 65 [XXXV.]—In Infants There is No Sin of Their Own Commission.
Chapter 66.—Infants’ Faults Spring from Their Sheer Ignorance.
Chapter 67 [XXXVI.]—On the Ignorance of Infants, and Whence It Arises.
Chapter 69 [XXXVIII.]—The Ignorance and the Infirmity of an Infant.
Chapter 1 [I.]—What Has Thus Far Been Dwelt On And What is to Be Treated in This Book.
Chapter 5 [V.]—The Will of Man Requires the Help of God.
Chapter 8 [VII.]—(2) Whether There is in This World a Man Without Sin.
Chapter 10 [VIII.]—Perfection, When to Be Realized.
Chapter 12 [X.]—He Reconciles Some Passages of Scripture.
Chapter 13.—A Subterfuge of the Pelagians.
Chapter 14. —Job Was Not Without Sin.
Chapter 15.—Carnal Generation Condemned on Account of Original Sin.
Chapter 18 [XIII.]—Perfect Human Righteousness is Imperfect.
Chapter 19.—Zacharias and Elisabeth, Sinners.
Chapter 20.—Paul Worthy to Be the Prince of the Apostles, and Yet a Sinner.
Chapter 21 [XIV.]—All Righteous Men Sinners.
Chapter 23 [XXI.]—Why God Prescribes What He Knows Cannot Be Observed.
Chapter 25.—God Punishes Both in Wrath and in Mercy.
Chapter 28 [XVIII.]—A Good Will Comes from God.
Chapter 29.—A Subterfuge of the Pelagians.
Chapter 31.—Grace is Given to Some Men in Mercy Is Withheld from Others in Justice and Truth.
Chapter 32.—God’s Sovereignity in His Grace.
Chapter 33.—Through Grace We Have Both the Knowledge of Good, and the Delight Which It Affords.
Chapter 35 [XXI.]—Adam and Eve Obedience Most Strongly Enjoined by God on Man.
Chapter 36 [XXII.]—Man’s State Before the Fall.
Chapter 37 [XXIII.]—The Corruption of Nature is by Sin, Its Renovation is by Christ.
Chapter 39 [XXV.]—An Objection of Pelagians.
Chapter 40.—An Argument Anticipated.
The apostle indeed says, “ Else were your children unclean now holy
Chapter 42.—Sanctification Manifold Sacrament of Catechumens.
Chapter 43 [XXVII.]—Why the Children of the Baptized Should Be Baptized.
Chapter 44.—An Objection of the Pelagians.
Chapter 49 [XXX.]—An Objection of the Pelagians.
Chapter 50 [XXXI.]—Why It is that Death Itself is Not Abolished, Along with Sin, by Baptism.
Chapter 51.—Why the Devil is Said to Hold the Power and Dominion of Death.
Chapter 52 [XXXII.]—Why Christ, After His Resurrection, Withdrew His Presence from the World.
Chapter 53 [XXXIII.]—An Objection of the Pelagians.
Chapter 54 [XXXIV.]—Why Punishment is Still Inflicted, After Sin Has Been Forgiven.
Chapter 56.—The Case of David, in Illustration.
Chapter 57 [XXXV.]—Turn to Neither Hand.
Chapter 58 [XXXVI.]—“Likeness of Sinful Flesh” Implies the Reality.
Chapter 1 [I.]—Pelagius Esteemed a Holy Man His Expositions on Saint Paul.
Chapter 2 [II.]—Pelagius’ Objection Infants Reckoned Among the Number of Believers and the Faithful.
Chapter 3.—Pelagius Makes God Unjust.
Chapter 6.—Why Pelagius Does Not Speak in His Own Person.
Chapter 7 [IV.]—Proof of Original Sin in Infants.
Chapter 8.—Jesus is the Saviour Even of Infants.
Chapter 9.—The Ambiguity of “Adam is the Figure of Him to Come.”
Chapter 10 [V.]—He Shows that Cyprian Had Not Doubted the Original Sin of Infants.
Chapter 11.—The Ancients Assumed Original Sin.
Chapter 12 [VI.]—The Universal Consensus Respecting Original Sin.
Chapter 13 [VII.]—The Error of Jovinianus Did Not Extend So Far.
Chapter 15 [VIII.]—We All Sinned Adam’s Sin.
Chapter 17 [IX.]—Christians Do Not Always Beget Christian, Nor the Pure, Pure Children.
Chapter 18 [X.]—Is the Soul Derived by Natural Propagation?
Chapter 19 [XI.]—Sin and Death in Adam, Righteousness and Life in Christ.
Chapter 20.—The Sting of Death, What?
Chapter 22 [XIII.]—We Ought to Be Anxious to Secure the Baptism of Infants.
Chapter 55 [XXVIII.]—He Concludes that All Men Need the Death of Christ, that They May Be Saved. Unbaptized Infants Will Be Involved in the Condemnation of the Devil. How All Men Through Adam are Unto Condemnation; And Through Christ Unto Justification. No One is Reconciled with God, Except Through Christ.
In such circumstances, no man of those who have come to Christ by baptism has ever been regarded, according to sound faith and the true doctrine, as excepted from the grace of forgiveness of sins; nor has eternal life been ever thought possible to any man apart from His kingdom. For this [eternal life] is ready to be revealed at the last time,194 1 Pet. i. 5. that is, 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 none who shall partake of this life shall be made alive except in Christ, even as all die in Adam.195 1 Cor. xv. 22. For as none whatever, of all those who belong to the generation according to the will of the flesh, die except in Adam, in whom all sinned; so, out of these, none at all who are regenerated by the will of the Spirit are endowed with life except in Christ, in whom all are justified. Because as through one all to condemnation, so through One all to justification.196 Rom. v. 18. Nor is there any middle place for any man, and so a man can only be with the devil who is not with Christ. Accordingly, also the Lord Himself (wishing to remove from the hearts of wrong-believers197 Malè credentium. that vague and indefinite 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 shuts their mouths: “He that is not with me is against me.”198 Matt. xii. 30. Take then the case of any infant you please: If he is already in Christ, why is he baptized? If, however, as the Truth has it, he is baptized just that he may be with Christ, it certainly follows that he who is not baptized is not with Christ; and because 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,” 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;”199 2 Thess. iii. 2. but that all who are born from the carnal union are born entirely of sinful flesh, whilst all who are born from the spiritual union are cleansed only by the Flesh which is in the likeness of sinful flesh. In other words, the former class are in Adam unto condemnation, the latter are in Christ unto justification. This is as if we should say, for example, that in such a city there is a certain midwife who delivers all; and in the same place there is an expert teacher who instructs all. By all, in the one case, only those who are born can possibly be understood; by all, in the other, only those who are taught: and it does not follow that all who are born also receive the instruction. But it is obvious to every one, that in the one case it is correctly said, “she delivers all,” since without her aid no one is born; and in the other, it is rightly said, “he teaches all,” since without his tutoring, no one learns.
CAPUT XXVIII.
55. Colligit omnes egere morte Christi, ut salventur. Parvuli non baptizati in damnatione erunt cum diabolo. Quomodo omnes per Adam ad condemnationem, et omnes per Christum ad justificationem. Nemo cum Deo reconciliatur nisi per Christum. Quae cum ita sint, neminem unquam eorum qui ad Christum accesserunt per Baptismum, sana fides et sana doctrina putavit exceptum a gratia remissionis peccatorum, nec esse posse alicui praeter regnum ejus, aeternam salutem. Haec enim parata est revelari in tempore novissimo (Id. I, 5), hoc est, in resurrectione mortuorum, pertinentium non ad mortem aeternam, quae secunda mors appellatur, sed ad vitam aeternam, quam promittit non mendax Deus sanctis et fidelibus suis; cujus vitae participes omnes non vivificabuntur nisi in Christo, sicut in Adam omnes moriuntur (I Cor. XV, 22). Quemadmodum enim omnes omnino pertinentes ad generationem voluntatis carnis non moriuntur, nisi in Adam in quo omnes peccaverunt: sic ex his omnes omnino pertinentes ad regenerationem voluntatis spiritus, non vivificantur nisi in Christo, in quo omnes justificantur. Quia sicut per unum omnes ad condemnationem, sic per unum omnes ad justificationem (Rom. V, 18). Nec est ullus ulli medius locus, ut possit esse nisi cum diabolo, qui non est cum Christo. Hinc et ipse Dominus volens auferre de cordibus male credentium istam nescio quam medietatem, quam conantur 0141 quidam parvulis non baptizatis tribuere, ut quasi merito innocentiae sint in vita aeterna, sed quia non sunt baptizati, non sint cum Christo in regno ejus, definitivam protulit ad haec ora obstruenda sententiam, ubi ait: Qui mecum non est, adversum me est (Matth. XII, 30). Constitue igitur quemlibet parvulum: si jam cum Christo est, utquid baptizatur? Si autem, quod habet veritas, ideo baptizatur, ut sit cum Christo, profecto non baptizatus non est cum Christo, et quia non est cum Christo, adversus Christum est; neque enim ejus tam manifestam debemus aut possumus infirmare vel immutare sententiam. Unde igitur adversus Christum, si non ex peccato ? neque enim ex corpore et anima, quae utraque Dei creatura est. Porro si ex peccato, quod in illa aetate, nisi originale et antiquum? Una est quippe caro peccati, in qua omnes ad damnationem nascuntur; et una est caro in similitudine carnis peccati, per quam omnes a damnatione liberantur. Nec ita dictum est omnes, velut quicumque nascuntur in carne peccati, iidem ipsi omnes mundari intelligantur per carnem similem carnis peccati; non enim omnium est fides (II Thess. III, 2): sed omnes pertinentes ad generationem connubii carnalis, non nascuntur nisi in carne peccati; et omnes pertinentes ad generationem connubii spiritualis, non mundantur nisi per carnem similem carnis peccati: hoc est, illi per Adam ad condemnationem, isti per Christum ad justificationem. Tanquam si dicamus, verbi gratia, Una est obstetrix in hac civitate, quae omnes excipit; et unus est hic litterarum magister, qui omnes docet: neque ibi intelligi possunt omnes, nisi qui nascuntur; neque hic omnes, nisi qui discunt: non tamen omnes qui nascuntur, litteras discunt. Sed cuivis claret, quod et illic recte dictum est, Omnes excipit, praeter cujus manus nemo nascitur; et hic recte dictum est, Omnes docet, praeter cujus magisterium nemo discit.