THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 16
Son and of the Holy Ghost’ ”’ (Bingham, Origines, XI., xi., § 7). Jerome (fifth century), commenting on Eph. iv. 5, presents the same view
Patristic regarding the three actions constitu-
Testimony. ting one baptism, for he says: “ We are thrice dipped in the water, that the mystery of the Trinity may appear to be but one: . . . though we be thrice put under water to represent the mystery of the Trinity—yet it is reputed but one baptism ”’ (Bingham, ut sup., XL, xi., § 6). Tertullian (third century) also believed that the Lord taught trine immersion, for, speaking of the baptismal formula, he says: “‘ He commands them to baptize into the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, not into a unipersonal God. And indeed it is not once only, but three times, that we are immersed into three persons, at each several mention of their names”’ (Adv. Prax., xxvi.; Eng. transl., ANF, iii. 623). The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, written according to Schaff between 90 and 100 a.p. (Schaff’s ed. of Didache, p. 122, New York, 1890), is wholly on the side of the triple action in baptism. The rite was to be administered (chap. vii.) “into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, in living water,” or, if that could not be had, in other water, cold or warm. If there was not sufficient to immerse, then “ pour water thrice upon the head into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.’’ ‘‘ Three times”’ applies to the immersion as well as to the pouring. Pouring plenty of water on the head “ three times ”’ was the nearest practicable substitute of total trine immersion (cf. Philip Schaff’s extended comments in his edition of the Didache, pp. 29-35, New York, 1890). The early Fathers, without a voice to the contrary, believed that triple baptism was the New-Testament form. In his address at the Council of Carthage, 256 a.p., Munnulus or Monulus, bishop of Girba, said: ‘ The truth of our Mother the Catholic Church, brethren, hath always remained and still remains with us, and even especially in the trinity of baptism, as our Lord says, ‘ Go ye and baptize the nations, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ ’’ (Cyprian, ‘‘ Concerning the Baptism of Heretics,” ANF, v. 567). Not one of the eighty-seven bishops present challenged the statement. The fiftieth of the Apostolic Canons shows the views on baptism held by the Church of the second, third, and fourth centuries. It reads thus: “If any bishop or presbyter does not perform the three immersions of the one admission, but one immersion which is given into the death of Christ, let him be deprived; for the Lord did not say, ‘ Baptize into my death’; but, ‘Go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost ’” (ANF, vii. 503).
John Wesley thought triple immersion was the apostolic practise (H. Moore’s Life of Wesley, i. 425, New York, 1824). Trine immersion was the only form of baptism in general use among the early churches. William Wall says: ‘‘ The way of trine immersion, or plunging the head of the person three times into the water, was the general practise of all antiquity ’ (Infant Baptism, i. 592, Ox-
17 RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Trine Immersion Trinitarians
ford, 1862). Robert Robinson (History of Baptism, p. 148, London, 1790) makes this statement: “ It is not true that dipping was exchanged More for sprinkling by choice before the Modern Reformation, for, till after that period, Opinions. the ordinary baptism was trine immersion.” Wharton Booth Marriott, in DCA, i. 161, says: ‘‘ Triple immersion, that is, thrice dipping the head while standing in the water, was all but the universal rule of the church in early times.’’ Trine immersion is supported by the testimony of Basil, 370; Cyril of Jerusalem, 380; Ambrose, 390; Augustine, 420; Theodoret, 450; Alcuin, 775, and others of the Fathers. The churches in the East, where Christianity was first established, still retain the trine form in baptism. Rev. Dr. George Washburn, former president of Robert College, in Constantinople, says (Didache, ed. Schaff, ut sup., p. 43): “ As to the baptism question, the orthodox authorities here declare that no oriental church not under Roman Catholic or Protestant influence knows any other baptism than trine immersion.”’ On the same page, foot-note, concerning the practise of the Russian Church, it is stated, ‘“‘ Baptism is always administered by dipping the infant or adult three times into the water.”’ The whole Greek Church, numbering nearly one hundred millions, administers the sacrament of baptism only by trine immersion. This is also the practise of the Armenian church, numbering several millions. Schaff says, ‘ Trine immersion and emersion of the whole body was the general practise of the ancient Church, Greek and Latin, and continues to this day in all Eastern churches and sects, and in the orthodox State Church of Russia ”’ (Didache, ut sup., p. 54). J. H. Moore. BrsiiograpHy: J. Chrystal, Hist. of the Modes of Baptism, Philadelphia, 1861; R. Robinson, Lcclesiastical Researches, chap. on the Greek Church, Cambridge, 1792; A. Campbell, Christian Baptism, Bethany, Va., 1853; G. H. Orchard, Hist. of Foreign Baptists, 2 vols., St. Louis, 1855; Quinter and McConnell Debate, Cincinnati, 1868; J. H. Moore, Trine Immersion Traced to the Apostles, Elgin, Ill., 1874; R. H. Miller, Doctrine of the Brethren Defended, ib. 1876; W. Cathcart, The Baptism of the Ages, Philadelphia, 1878; J. Quinter, Trine Immersion, Elgin, 1886; Miller and Sommer Debate, Mount Morris, I1l., 1889; C. F. Yoder, God’s Means of Grace, Elgin, 1908; J. B. Wampler, Biblical and Historical Researches, Grove City, Pa., 1908; the literature cited in the text, and under Baptism.
TRINIDAD. See West INpIEs.
TRINITARIANS: A Roman Catholic order (Ordo sanctissime Trinitatis redemptionis captivorum; also called Ordo asinorum, the members being at first permitted to ride only on asses; and in France, Maturines, from their chapel of St. Mathurin or St. Mathelin at Paris), founded, according to tradition, in 1198 by Jean de Matha (b. at Faucon, near Barcelonette, 31 m. n.w. of Nice, June 23, 1160; d. at Rome Dec. 17, 1213) and Félix de Valois (b. 1127; d. at Paris Jan. 20, 1212). The legendary account of their origin is not wholly sustained by the earliest known document. This is a privilegium of Innocent III. of May, 1198, approving the reception of property at Cerfroid, specially the house given by Countess Margaret of Burgundy, and implying the existence of the order
XII.—2
before the legendary journey to Rome, 1198. It is questionable whether the original idea of working for the ransom of the captives was Jean’s or Margaret’s, but, from the words of this document, more probably the latter’s. A second document of Dec., 1198, from Innocent, shows that the pope had sent back Jean for recommendations from the bishop of Paris and the abbot of St. Victor. On Jean’s return with these and a copy of the rule, the pope confirmed the order. A new privilegium of protection was granted by Innocent, June 18, 1209. The rule of the Trinitarians requires the brothers to live in obedience to the “‘ minister’ of their house, and in celibacy and poverty. Each single house is to be occupied by three clerical and three lay brothers, controlled by a “‘ minister,” the latter a priest chosen by the brothers and required to hold a chapter each Sunday. At the head of the entire order is the minister superior, who convenes the annual chapter on the octave of Whitsunday and directs the discipline over the ministers inferior. A third of the income of the order is set apart for the liberation of prisoners. The first minister superior was Jean de Matha, who received from Innocent III. the church and hospital of San Tommaso in Formis, on the Celian Hill. A few years after the establishment of the Trinitarians, a female branch was founded in Spain, though it did not receive a definite constitution until 1236. In 1199 the first mission was sent to Tunis and 186 redeemed captives were brought back in triumph to Cerfroid. The order, which had increased chiefly in the Latin countries, was extended to England, Scotland, Ireland, and the East, and was reconfirmed by Honorius III. (1217); Clement IV. permitted certain relaxations of its rule (1267); and Clement VII. sanctioned mendicancy (1574). The Trinitarians did not escape degeneration, and efforts at reform led to divisions. Of the branches the most important is that of the Discalced Trinitarians, established in Spain and recognized as a distinct congregation by Clement VIII. in 1599, and extended to France and Italy. In 1609 Paul V. declared them a mendicant order, but until 1636 they were under the general of the main order.
The internal history of the Trinitarians is obscure. A. Koénig maintained that at the height of their prosperity, in the fifteenth century, they had some 880 monasteries, while Pierre Helyot states for his time, the first half of the eighteenth century, that they still possessed about 250 in eleven provinces. According to O. Braunsberger (Stimmen aus Maria Laach, supplement No. 79, 1901) in 1835 forty-seven of the eighty-seven Spanish monasteries of the order were suppressed, a like fate having befallen the six Austrian houses in 1782-90. P. Deslandres shows 102 houses for France and the Netherlands, of which at the end of the eighteenth century there survived ninety-three, besides eleven in England, one in Ireland, and seven in Scotland. The calced Trinitarians became extinct in 1894, while the discalced branch has maintained itself till the present time by four settlements at Rome (1905), including the parish churches of Santa Maria della Fornaci and San Grisogono, besides other settlements in Spain, Austria, America, and elsewhere.
Trinity, Doctrine of the