The figure of a new birth is very common in the Fathers in connexion with baptism ; e.g. Justin, Apol. i. 61, 66, and Irenaeus, c. Haer. I. xxi. 1, iii. xvii. 1 {a.vayevvr)(xi.s) ; Tert. adv. Marc. i. 28, deRes. Cam. 47 (regeneratio).
(e) Baptism and the gift of the Sjnrit. — We have seen (above, 6) how closely the gift of the Spirit is connected with baptism in the NT. We may noAv consider the meaning of that gift. Though the Holy Ghost is the Agent of all the Divine working, and therefore must be the Giver of life (cf. Ro 8-- " etc.) at the immersion, yet the gift of the Spirit is said in Ac 8^^ not to be bestowed then, but at a later stage of the same rite — at the laying on of hands (see above, 6). Tertullian remarks (r/e Bapt. 6) that ' in the waters we do not receive the Holy Spirit, but, having been cleansed in the water under the infiuence of an angel [sub angclo), we are pre- pared for the Holy Spirit.' What, then, did St. Peter and St. John pray for when they prayed that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Ghost (Ac 8'-'^) ? What was the gift of the Holy Ghost received in v. ^"^ 1 One answer Avhich has been given to this question must be dismissed as quite insuffi- cient— that the miraculous signs vouchsafed in the infancy of the Church were the gift. It may be said that in v.'^ Simon saw that the Holy Glaost was given, and that therefore there must have been some outward manifestation. In Ac 19^ the neophytes spoke with tongues and prophesied (cf. 2-4 lo^fi). To state the matter in this way, however, is to confuse the outAvard evidences of the activity of the Spirit with the gift of the Spirit Himself. No one could suppose that all that the Church received on the Day of Pentecost Avas a mere speak- ing Avith ' other tongues.' To understand Avhat the gift is, Ave cannot do better than consider our Lord's promise of the gift, in Jn 14-16. As He describes
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it, it is a gift of guidance and teaching (14^8 jg26 jg8. i3ff.j^ and, above all, a continued presence of the Spirit with us for ever (14'"-)- It was not to be a gift for one generation only, but for us in modern times as well as for the first Christians. There is nothing in these chapters about the gift of tongues or other wonderful signs. Indeed, as Chase remarks (Confirmation, p. 114), 'in the teaching of the Apostles tlie thought of extra- ordinary charismata has a quite subordinate place,' When Saul received the Holy Ghost (Ac 9'^) there appear to have been no outward phenomena. And, whether the laying on of hands in 2 Ti P was at baptism or at ordination (see above, 6), it is signi- ficant that the ' gift of God ' which was in Timothy by the laying on of St. Paul's hands was the ' spirit of power and love and discipline' (ffiO(ppovia/iod). Indeed, it is difficult to suppose that the apostles could have laid so much stress on the gift if it was merely a speaking with tongues (which St. Paul somewhat disparages in 1 Co 14-), or prophesying. Throughout the Epistles, the gift of the Spirit is a very different thing ; it is that inward strengthen- ing which enables the Church to fight the battle A\'ith the hosts of evil and to win the victory. And this is what our Lord promised in the Johannine chapters quoted above.
(/) Baptism not a magical charm. — To say that God uses outward means or instruments as the normal manner in which He gives His grace is not to assert, on the one hand, that all who receive the outward means receive the grace, or, on the other hand, that God cannot give the grace otherwise. Hence the emphasis on the need of repentance and faith in those who are baptized ; e.g. cf. Ac 2^^ for repentance, 18^ for faith : ' believed and were baptized'; in 19"*' 'when ye believed' is equiva- lent to ' when ye were baptized ' [TnareijcravTes — iiSaTTTiadrire). One or two references to the early Fathers (out of a large number) will show how strongly they felt this. Repentance and faith are both insisted on by Justin (Apol. i. 61). Origen says that the Spirit may leave the unworthy Christian after baptism (in Joann. vi. 33). Cyril of Jerusalem says that the outward rite will not convey the gift of the Spirit if the candidate does not come in faith (Cat. xvii. 35 ff.). It is equally recognized in Christian antiquity that it is possible for man to receive the grace without the outward sign in cases of necessity. For example, the ' baptism in blood ' of unbaptized martyrs is recog- nized as sufficient by Tertullian, de Bapt. 16, and in the Church Orders (Test, of our Lord, ii. 5 ; Can. of Hippolytus, xix. [ed. Achelis, 101] ; Egyptian Church Order's, 44) and elsewhere. The work of God is mighty, tliough the instrument is insig- nificant. Thus Tertullian (de Bapt. 2, 4) remarks on the simplicity of baptism, which makes people disparage the greatness of its effect, not realizing that the Spirit sanctifies the water.