THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
the bishop, clothing in white, foot-washing — speaking generally, a simple and very ancient form of service. It contained only one unction, with chrism; but in the Sacramentarium Gallicanum a second is added, before the renunciation, with oil, on ears, nose, and breast, following an exorcism. This ancient ritual was either influenced or replaced by the Roman. The development reached by the time of Charlemagne is visible in the instructions sent by him to the bishops of his dominions in the last years of his reign, not later than 812, and obviously based on the Roman ordo. No absolute uniformity was, however, attained, so that even in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it is impossible to speak of one single baptismal ritual for Germany or for France; but they agree fairly closely in the prayers and in the formulae for exorcism.
3. The Baptismal Service in the Reformation Churches: The transition stage was marked by simple translation of the current older ritual without essential alterations, as in the service put forth by Thomas Miinzer in 1524, though made in the previous year, and that of Luther in his
i. Three Taufbuchlein verdeutscht, also 1523. Main Luther omitted the exorcism of salt
Types. and the opening of the ears, shortened the initial exorcisms, omitted the profession of faith by the sponsors, and used the Lord's Prayer as a prayer, instead of the earlier usage of reciting it in the hearing of the newly baptized for their instruction. This service, comparatively little different from the Latin forms, was widely used or imitated. The first thorough recasting of the service was made at Strasburg in 1525, and in the next year appeared a new edition of Luther's book; these, with Zwingli's order of 1525, form the three points of departure for the later development. Luther's is divided into two parts. Outside the church or in the vestibule occurred an exorcism, signing with the cross on forehead and breast, prayers, another exorcism, reading of Mark x, 13-16, imposition of hands, and recitation of the Lord's Prayer. At the font: salutation, renunciation and profession of faith, request for baptism, also made by the sponsors, baptism by threefold immersion, giving of the chrisom-cloth. The exorcism, deliberately retained by Luther, aroused opposition and controversy even in the sixteenth century. The Strasburg ritual, drawn up under Butzer's influence, left much less of the pre-Reformation service. It was composed of an exhortation ending with a prayer, the Lord's Prayer, Apostles' Creed, reading of Matt. xix, pledge of sponsors to bring up the child in the Christian faith, baptism by pouring, and final prayers. Slight alterations were made in 1537 and later, but the service has remained in this essentially evangelical form. Zwingli's service consisted of an introductory formula, questions to sponsors, prayer, reading of Mark x, 13-16, request for baptism, baptism, giving of chrisom-cloth. It is thus obvious that the Zwinglian and Strasburg services differ from Luther's in the omission of the exorcisms and renunciation, considered as inappropriate to the baptism of a child of Christian
parents, and in the substitution of pouring for immersion.
These three forms have had decisive influence
on the development of the Evangelical Churches.
Luther's was the standard for the old
2. Later Lutheran established Churches, with
Develop- the omission here and there of the ment. signing with the cross and the exorcisms. That of Strasburg had a powerful influence, through the cooperation of Butzer and Hedio with Melanchthon, on the " Cologne Reformation " of 1543 and a number of other German services, and more than the Zwinglian on that of Calvin, so that it gradually influenced the entire Reformed community with the exception of German Switzerland, where Zwingli was followed. The Church of England service has features of both Lutheran and Reformed types, the former predominating.
The baptismal formularies of the German evangelical churches remained more or less on the old model until the age of rationalism, when the exorcisms (to which Spener had already objected) were removed together with the meaningless questions to the child, and in many places the renunciation; immersion was also generally discontinued. Even where the old service-books remained officially in force, the ministers frequently disregarded them and made use of private compositions, composed in thoroughly eighteenth century style, and unsuited to the taste of the nineteenth. The movement for the reform of the services which set in between 1810 and 1820 showed an inclination to return to the older formularies, not indeed restoring the exorcisms, but frequently including once more the questions to the child and the renunciation.
4. The Minister of Baptism: It would seem that the original system allowed any baptized person to baptize others; at least it is impossible to assert that only the apostles or those commissioned by them could administer the sacrament (cf. I Cor. i, 14-17; Acts vi, 5; viii, 12, 38). The same inference may be drawn from the Didache (vii) and Ignatius (Ad Smyrnwos, viii, 2). Tertullian allows lay baptism in the absence of a cleric (De baptismo, xvii), though the natural minister is the bishop — a view which became more and more prevalent, so that baptisteries were found only in episcopal sees. But the practical difficulty of enforcing this principle led bishops to commission others, especially presbyters. The natural right of the bishop was still expressed in the fact that it was he who consecrated the oils used, and gave the unction and laying on of hands after baptism. The scholastic theologians supplied a theory to fit this already ancient practise, asserting that the right belonged to the bishop, but that he might delegate it. The right of the priest was dogmatically declared, following Thomas Aquinas (Summa, III, lxvii, 2), by Eugenius IV: "the minister of this sacrament is the priest, who has ex officio the right to baptize " (Decretum pro instructione Armeniorum, 1439). The Catechismus Romanus (II, ii, 18) asserts that priests exercise this function jure suo, so that they may baptize even in the presence of