THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Osrhoene), some information may be gained from
the Acts of Thomas, which, although of heretical
origin, probably do not differ from the orthodox
rites on this point. These mention
i. Syria, imposition of hands and prayer, anointing with consecrated oil, baptism in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (under certain conditions by immersion only), the service closing with the celebration of the Eucharist. This Syrian Church appears to have maintained its liturgical independence until Bishop Rabbula of Edtssa (d. 435) introduced the customs of the Greek churches, especially of Antioch; but there may have been earlier influences from that source; the later Syrian Jacobites have essentially the same baptismal rite as is found in the Eastern Church at large, especially Constantinople.
Coming to western Syria (with Antioch for its center) and Palestine (Greek-speaking districts), the primary authority for Ccele-syria is the Syriac Didascalia (third century), from which the following order may be deduced: possibly first the renunciation and profession of faith; anointing with imposition of hands; baptism proper; imposition of hands by the bishop and further anointing. This agrees with what may be inferred for Antioch from the Apostolic Constitutions (middle or latter half of the 4th cent.), in which the seventh book, dealing with baptism and undoubtedly derived from an older source, is of especial value. According to this the order is as follows: in the anteroom, or outside the baptistery, the renunciation, the act of allegiance to Christ, the Trinitarian confession of faith, recited by the candidate, the consecration of the oil, and the unction; in the baptistery, a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing of the water, baptism in the threefold name, blessing of the balsam, imposition of hands and unction, Lord's Prayer, and prayer of the newly baptized. In its essential points this ritual is found also in Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386); the main differences are that the first anointing takes place, according to him, within the baptistery, and that he does not mention the blessing of the water (though there is reason to think that he knew it), the prayer of thanksgiving, or the Lord's Prayer. Thus it is clear that the type of baptismal rite in western Syria and Jerusalem was substantially the same in the fourth century, and relatively simple, which speaks for its antiquity. The next glimpse afforded by tradition, about a century later, is in Dionysius the Areopagite (De hierarchia ecclesiastica, ii-iii, MPL, iii, 393 sqq.). This is much more richly developed; the individual acts are in some cases repeated three times, the blessing of the water has more formality, and imposition of hands occurs after the profession of faith, while nothing is said of the second anointing.
In the territory including Asia Minor and Constantinople, between 3.50 and 450 a baptismal ritual must have grown up and spread widely which did not differ essentially from the present Eastern usage. That of the Syrian Jacobites agrees with it, not only in general structure but even in the text of prayers — and since they separated from the Church in 451 (finally in 519), they
must have had it before their separation. The oldest version of this liturgy, which the Jacobites traced back to James the Apostle, is 2. Asia probably that which bears the name of Minor and Basil the Great, and it is possible that Constanti- it originated with this liturgically acnople. tive bishop. Both types agree in placing the act of reception of catechumens and the last exorcism before baptism, and the reading of the Scriptures comes before the actual baptism. Here again, as in the Apostolic Constitutions and Cyril, the first act of the real baptismal ceremony is the blessing of the water. The Byzantine liturgy has only one anointing with oil before baptism, while the Jacobite forms have two before and one with chrism after. Little is certainly known of the Nestorian and Armenian liturgies, but both have much less connection with theGreek than has that of the Syrian Jacobites.
The Egyptian liturgy has peculiarities which mark it off from the Syrian. It may be reconstructed from the prayer-book of 3. Egypt Bishop Serapion of Thmuis (c. 350) and in the following form: blessing of the Ethiopia, water; prayer for the catechumens, renunciation, prayer before anointing, anointing, confession of faith, prayer; presentation of catechumens by the deacon to the bishop, prayer, baptism, imposition of hands with prayer, consecration of chrism, anointing with it. The main differences between this and the rite of the Apostolic Constitutions, which originated about the same time, lie in the different positions assigned to the blessing of the water of the first unction and in the fact that the imposition of hands after baptism is distinguished from the anointing in the Egyptian, and closely connected with it in the Syrian. The later approximation of the two is attributable to the influence of the Syrian upon the Egyptian. The sixth century liturgy known under Baumstark's name places the blessing of the water (as well as of oil and chrism) within the main action instead of before it. Some later Egyptian liturgies place before the renunciation the anointing which formerly followed it. The Coptic liturgy ultimately had three unctions. That after the baptism separated into two — one by the priest immediately after baptism, the other by the bishop in the church (as in Rome). The later Egyptian liturgies (Baumstark's Alexandrian, the Coptic, and the Ethiopian) have a section at the beginning which is clearly the earlier reception of catechumens, containing the giving of a name, unction with the oil of catechumens, imposition of hands and exorcism, and wholly free from the Syrian influence.
For the investigation of the Western development, Rome is of the greatest importance, as tending to influence the provinces, which 4. Rome, at first had peculiarities of their own, though they agreed in general type. Unfortunately the information as to the early Roman development is very fragmentary. Justin's testimony has been already referred to; but there is no doubt that a more formal ritual existed than his words directly cover. That the Roman