35. The dispensation of our God and Saviour concerning man is a recall from the fall and a return from the alienation caused by disobedience to close communion with God. This is the reason for the sojourn of Christ in the flesh, the pattern life described in the Gospels, the sufferings, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection; so that the man who is being saved through imitation of Christ receives that old adoption. For perfection of life the imitation of Christ is necessary, not only in the example of gentleness,  1  ἀοργησία in Arist. Eth. iv. 5, 5, is the defect where meekness (πραότης) is the mean. In Plutarch, who wrote a short treatise on it, it is a virtue. In Mark iii. 5, Jesus looked round on them “with anger,” μετ᾽ ὀργῆς, but in Matt. xi. 29, He calls Himself πρᾷος. lowliness, and long suffering set us in His life, but also of His actual death. So Paul, the imitator of Christ,  2  cf. 1 Cor. xi. 1. says, “being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”  3  Phil. iii. 10, 11. How then are we made in the likeness of His death?  4  Rom. vi. 4, 5. In that we were buried  5  A.V., “are buried.” Grk. and R.V., “were buried.” with Him by baptism. What then is the manner of the burial? And what is the advantage resulting from the imitation? First of all, it is necessary that the continuity of the old life be cut. And this is impossible unless a man be born again, according to the Lord’s word;  6  John iii. 3. for the regeneration, as indeed the name shews, is a beginning of a second life. So before beginning the second, it is necessary to put an end to the first. For just as in the case of runners who turn and take the second course,  7  In the double course (δίαυλος) the runner turned (κάμπτω) the post at the end of the stadium. So “κάμψαι διαύλον θάτερον κῶλον πάλιν” in Æsch. Ag. 335, for retracing one’s steps another way. a kind of halt and pause intervenes between the movements in the opposite direction, so also in making a change in lives it seemed necessary for death to come as mediator between the two, ending all that goes before, and beginning all that comes after. How then do we achieve the descent into hell? By imitating, through baptism, the burial of Christ. For the bodies of the baptized are, as it were, buried in the water. Baptism then symbolically signifies the putting off of the works of the flesh; as the apostle says, ye were “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism.”  8  Col. ii. 11, 12. And there is, as it were, a cleansing of the soul from the filth  9  cf. 1 Pet. iii. 21. that has grown on it from the carnal mind,  10  τὸ σαρκικὸν φρόνημα. cf. the φρόνημα τῆς σαρκός of Rom. viii. 6. cf. Article ix. as it is written, “Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”  11  Ps. li. 9. On this account we do not, as is the fashion of the Jews, wash ourselves at each defilement, but own the baptism of salvation  12  cf. 1 Pet. iii. 21. to be one.  13  cf. Eph. iv. 5. For there the death on behalf of the world is one, and one the resurrection of the dead, whereof baptism is a type. For this cause the Lord, who is the Dispenser of our life, gave us the covenant of baptism, containing a type of life and death, for the water fulfils the image of death, and the Spirit gives us the earnest of life. Hence it follows that the answer to our question why the water was associated with the Spirit  14  cf. John iii. 5. is clear: the reason is because in baptism two ends were proposed; on the one hand, the destroying of the body of sin,  15  cf. Rom. vi. 6. that it may never bear fruit unto death;  16  cf. Rom. vii. 5. on the other hand, our living unto the Spirit,  17  cf. Gal. v. 25. and having our fruit in holiness;  18  cf. Rom. vi. 22. the water receiving the body as in a tomb figures death, while the Spirit pours in the quickening power, renewing our souls from the deadness of sin unto their original life. This then is what it is to be born again of water and of the Spirit, the being made dead being effected in the water, while our life is wrought in us through the Spirit. In three immersions,  19  Trine immersion was the universal rule of the Catholic Church. cf. Greg. Nyss. The Great Catechism, p. 502 of this edition. So Tertull. de Cor. Mil. c iii., Aquam adituri, ibidem, sed et aliquanto prius in ecclesia, sub antistitis manu contestamur, nos renuntiare diabolo et pompæ et angelis ejus. Dehinc ter mergitamur. Sozomen (vi. 26) says that Eunomius was alleged to be the first to maintain that baptism ought to be performed in one immersion and to corrupt in this manner the tradition of the apostles, and Theodoret (Hæret. fab. iv. 3) describes Eunomius as abandoning the trine immersion, and also the invocation of the Trinity as baptizing into the death of Christ. Jeremy Taylor (Ductor dubitantium, iii. 4, Sect. 13) says, “In England we have a custom of sprinkling, and that but once.…As to the number, though the Church of England hath made no law, and therefore the custom of doing it once is the more indifferent and at liberty, yet if the trine immersion be agreeable to the analogy of the mystery, and the other be not, the custom ought not to prevail, and is not to be complied with, if the case be evident or declared.” then, and with three invocations, the great mystery of baptism is performed, to the end that the type of death may be fully figured, and that by the tradition of the divine knowledge the baptized may have their souls enlightened. It follows that if there is any grace in the water, it is not of the nature of the water, but of the presence of the Spirit. For baptism is “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God.”  20  1 Pet. iii. 21. So in training us for the life that follows on the resurrection the Lord sets out all the manner of life required by the Gospel, laying down for us the law of gentleness, of endurance of wrong, of freedom from the defilement that comes of the love of pleasure, and from covetousness, to the end that we may of set purpose win beforehand and achieve all that the life to come of its inherent nature possesses. If therefore any one in attempting a definition were to describe the gospel as a forecast of the life that follows on the resurrection, he would not seem to me to go beyond what is meet and right. Let us now return to our main topic.

[35] Ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν περὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομία ἀνάκλησίς ἐστιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκπτώσεως, καὶ ἐπάνοδος εἰς οἰκείωσιν Θεοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς διὰ τὴν παρακοὴν γενομένης ἀλλοτριώσεως. Διὰ τοῦτο ἡ μετὰ σαρκὸς ἐπιδημία Χριστοῦ: αἱ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν πολιτευμάτων ὑποτυπώσεις: τὰ πάθη: ὁ σταυρός: ἡ ταφή: ἡ ἀνάστασις: ὥστε τὸν σῳζόμενον ἄνθρωπον διὰ μιμήσεως Χριστοῦ, τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἐκείνην υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολαβεῖν. Ἀναγκαία τοίνυν ἐστὶ πρὸς τελείωσιν ζωῆς, ἡ Χριστοῦ μίμησις, οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὸν βίον ὑποδείγμασιν ἀοργησίας καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ μακροθυμίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ θανάτου, ὡς Παῦλός φησιν ὁ μιμητὴς τοῦ Χριστοῦ: «Συμμορφούμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ, εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐξανάστασιν.» Πῶς οὖν γινόμεθα ἐν τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ; Συνταφέντες αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος. Τίς οὖν ὁ τρόπος τῆς ταφῆς; καὶ τί τὸ ἐκ τῆς μιμήσεως χρήσιμον; Πρῶτον μὲν ἀναγκαῖον, τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τοῦ προτέρου βίου διακοπῆναι. Τοῦτο δὲ ἀδύνατον, μὴ «ἄνωθεν γεννηθέντα», κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν. Ἡ γὰρ παλιγγενεσία, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸ δηλοῖ τὸ ὄνομα, δευτέρου βίου ἐστὶν ἀρχή. Ὥστε δὲ ἄρξασθαι τοῦ δευτέρου, πέρας χρὴ δοῦναι τῷ προλαβόντι. Ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν τὸν δίαυλον ἀνακαμπτόντων, στάσις τις καὶ ἐπηρέμησις τὰς ἐναντίας κινήσεις διαλαμβάνει: οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς τῶν βίων μεταβολῆς ἀναγκαῖον ἐφάνη θάνατον ἀμφοτέροις μεσιτεῦσαι τοῖς βίοις, περατοῦντα μὲν τὰ προάγοντα, ἀρχὴν δὲ διδόντα τοῖς ἐφεξῆς. Πῶς οὖν κατορθοῦμεν τὴν εἰς ᾅδου κατάβασιν; Μιμούμενοι τὴν ταφὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος. Οἱονεὶ γὰρ ἐνθάπτεται τῷ ὕδατι τῶν βαπτιζομένων τὰ σώματα. Ἀπόθεσιν οὖν τῶν ἔργων τῆς σαρκὸς συμβολικῶς ὑποφαίνει τὸ βάπτισμα, κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον λέγοντα, ὅτι «Περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ, ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκός, ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι». Καὶ οἱονεὶ καθάρσιόν ἐστι ψυχῆς τοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ σαρκικοῦ φρονήματος αὐτῇ προσγενομένου ῥύπου, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ὅτι «Πλυνεῖς με, καὶ ὑπὲρ χιόνα λευκανθήσομαι». Διὰ τοῦτο οὐχὶ Ἰουδαϊκῶς ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ μολύσματι ἀπολουόμεθα, ἀλλ' ἓν οἴδαμεν τὸ σωτήριον βάπτισμα: ἐπειδὴ εἷς ἐστιν ὁ ὑπὲρ τοῦ κόσμου θάνατος, καὶ μία ἡ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐξανάστασις, ὧν τύπος ἐστὶ τὸ βάπτισμα. Τούτου χάριν ὁ τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν οἰκονομῶν Κύριος τὴν τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἡμῖν ἔθετο διαθήκην, θανάτου τύπον καὶ ζωῆς περιέχουσαν: τὴν μὲν τοῦ θανάτου εἰκόνα τοῦ ὕδατος ἐκπληροῦντος, τὸν δὲ τῆς ζωῆς ἀρραβῶνα παρεχομένου τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ὥστε σαφὲς ἡμῖν ἐντεῦθεν γέγονε τὸ ζητούμενον, διὰ τί τῷ Πνεύματι τὸ ὕδωρ συμπαρελήφθη. Ὅτι δύο σκοπῶν ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι προκειμένων, καταργῆσαι μὲν τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τοῦ μηκέτι αὐτὸ καρποφορεῖν τῷ θανάτῳ, ζῆν δὲ τῷ Πνεύματι, καὶ τὸν καρπὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἁγιασμῷ: τὸ μὲν ὕδωρ, τοῦ θανάτου τὴν εἰκόνα παρέχει, ὥσπερ ἐν ταφῇ τὸ σῶμα παραδεχόμενον: τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα τὴν ζωοποιὸν ἐνίησι δύναμιν, ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν νεκρότητος εἰς τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ζωὴν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ἀνακαινίζον. Τοῦτο οὖν ἐστι τὸ ἄνωθεν γεννηθῆναι ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος: ὡς τῆς μὲν νεκρώσεως ἐν τῷ ὕδατι τελουμένης: τῆς δὲ ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἐνεργουμένης διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ἐν τρισὶν οὖν καταδύσεσι καὶ ἰσαρίθμοις ταῖς ἐπικλήσεσι, τὸ μέγα μυστήριον τοῦ βαπτίσματος τελειοῦται, ἵνα καὶ ὁ τοῦ θανάτου τύπος ἐξεικονισθῇ καὶ τῇ παραδόσει τῆς θεογνωσίας τὰς ψυχὰς φωτισθῶσιν οἱ βαπτιζόμενοι. Ὥστε εἴ τίς ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ὕδατι χάρις, οὐκ ἐκ τῆς φύσεώς ἐστι τοῦ ὕδατος, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος παρουσίας. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι τὸ βάπτισμα «ῥύπου σαρκὸς ἀπόθεσις, ἀλλὰ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς ἐπερώτημα εἰς Θεόν». Πρὸς οὖν τὸν ἐξ ἀναστάσεως βίον καταρτίζων ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος, τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν πᾶσαν ἐκτίθεται πολιτείαν, τὸ ἀόργητον, τὸ ἀνεξίκακον, τὸ φιληδονίας ἀρρύπωτον, τὸ ἀφιλάργυρον τοῦ τρόπου νομοθετῶν: ὥστε ἅπερ ὁ αἰὼν ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὴν φύσιν κέκτηται, ταῦτα προλαβόντας ἡμᾶς ἐκ προαιρέσεως κατορθοῦν. Εἰ τοίνυν τις ὁριζόμενος εἴποι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εἶναι τοῦ ἐξ ἀναστάσεως βίου προδιατύπωσιν, οὐκ ἄν μοι δοκῇ τοῦ προσήκοντος ἁμαρτεῖν. Ἐπὶ οὖν τὸν σκοπὸν ἐπανέλθωμεν.