§ 92. BAPTISM. 483
lo no actual siu, tlie effect of baptism in this case is limited tc the remission of the guilt of original sin ; and since the child cannot yet itself believe, the Christian chnrch (represented by the parents and the sponsors) here appears in its behalf, as Augustine likewise supposed, and assumes the responsibility of the education of the baptized child to Christian majority.'
As to infant baptism : there was in this period a general conviction of its propriety and of its apostolic origin. Even the Pelagians were no exception ; though infant baptism does not properly lit into their system ; for they denied original sin, and baptism, as a rite of purification, always has reference to the forgiveness of sins. They attributed to infant baptism an improving effect. Ca3lestius maintained that children by baptism gained entrance to the higher stage of salvation, the kingdom of God, to which, with merely natural powers, they could not attain. He therefore supposed a middle condition of lower salvation for unbaptized children, which in the abovequoted second canon of the council of Carthage — if it be genuine— is condemned. Pelagius said more cautiously : "Whither unbaptized children go, I know not ; whither they do not go, I know.
But, notwithstanding this general admission of infant baptism, the practice of it was by no means universal. Forced baptism, which is contrary to the nature of Christianity and the sacrament, was as yet unknown. Many Christian parents postponed the baptism of their children, sometimes from indifference, sometimes from fear that they might by their later life forfeit the grace of baptism, and thereby make their condition the worse. Thus Gregory Nazianzen and Augustine, though they had eminently pious mothers, were not baptized till theii conversion in their manhood. But they afterward regretted this. Gregory admi^nishes a mother: "Let not sin gain the mastery in thy child ; let him be consecrated even in swaddling
* The scholastics were not entirely agreed whether baptism imparts positive grace to all, or only to adults. Peter Lombard was of the latter opinion; but most divines extended the positive effect of baptism even to children, though imder various modifications. Comp. the full exposition of the scholastic doctrine of bap tism (which does not belong here) in Hahn, 1. c. p. 333 ffi
484 THIKD PERIOD. A.D. 311-590.
Lands. Tliou art afraid of tlie divine seal on account of the weakness of nature. Wliat weakness of faith ! Hannah dedicated her Samuel to the Lord even before his birth ; and immediately after his birth trained him for the priesthood. Instead of fearing human weakness, trust in Gcd."
Many adult catechumens and proselytes likewise, partly from h'ght-mindedness and love of tlie world, partly Ironi pious prudence and superstitious fear of impairing the magical virtue of baptism, postponed their baptism until some misfortune or severe sickness drove them to the ordinance. The most celebrated example of this is the emperor Constantino, wlio was not baptized till he was on his bed of death. The postponement of baptism in that day was equivalent to the postponement of repentance and conversion so frequent in ours. This custom was resisted by tlie most eminent church teachers, but did not give way till the fifth century, when it gradually disappeared before the universal introduction of infant baptism.
Heretical baptism was now generally regarded as valid, if performed in the name of the triune God. The Roman view prevailed over the Cyprianic, at least in the Western church ; except among the Donatists, who entirely rejected lieretical baptism (as well as the catholic baptism), and made the efficacy of the sacrament depend not only on the ecclesiastical position, but also on the personal piety of the officiating priest.
Augustine, in his anti-Donatistic writings, defends the validity of heretical baptism by the following course of argument : Baptism is an institution of Christ, in the administration of which the minister is only an agent ; the grace or virtue of the sacrament is entirely dependent on Christ, and not on the moral character of the administering agent ; the unbeliever receivea not the power, but the form of the sacrament, which indeed is of no use to the ba})tized as long as lie is outside of tlie saving catholic communion, but becomes available as soon as he enters it on profession of faith ; baptism, wherever portbrmed, imparts an indelible character, or, as he calls it, a " character doniinicus," " regius." He compares it often to the " nota militaris," wl.ich marks the soldier once for all, whether it was branded on hia body by the legitimate captain or by a rebel, and binds bine