duly prepared for baptism, to receive it the first opportunity, without staying for one of these greater festivals. You pretend to stay to the time of Lent, says Chrysostom:' but why so? Has that time any thing more than others? The Apostles received not this grace at Easter; but at another time. Neither was it the time of Easter, when the three thousand and the five thousand were baptised, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles. Other things, says St. Basil, have their peculiar seasons; there is a time for sleep, and a time for watching; a time for war, and a time for peace: but the time of baptism is man's whole life; all times are seasonable to receive salvation thereby, whether day or night, every hour, every minute, every moment. And Nazianzen,3 in answering that plea which men used for delay, that they stayed only till Easter, Pentecost, or Epiphany, plainly shews, that he rather thought men ought not to defer their baptism, when once they were qualified for it, lest death should come suddenly upon them in a day they did not expect it, and in an hour they were not aware of. And in this respect it was true, what Tertullian said in the close of his Discourse upon this subject, that every day* was the Lord's day, every hour, and every time was fit for baptism, if men were fit and prepared for it. One day might be more solemn than another, but the grace of baptism was the same at all times. So that these solemn times were set apart for prudent reasons by the church, and for as prudent reasons they might be dispensed with, when either the necessities of a languishing distemper, or the zeal and activity of forward proficients made it advisable to anticipate the usual times of baptism, which, like all other parts of discipline, were designed for edification, and not for destruction.

SECT. 11.-Baptism not confined to any Place in the Apostolical Ages. The like observation may be made with respect to the

2 Basil. Ex

Chrys. Hom. i. in Act. tom. iv. p. 615. Edit. Savil. hort. ad Bapt. Hom. xiii. tom. i. p. 409. 3 Naz. Orat. 40. de Bapt. p. Tertul. de Bapt. cap. 19. Cæterum omnis dies domini est,

654.

omnis hora, omne tempus habile baptismo: si de solennitate interest, de gratia nihil refert.

place of baptism; for this varied also with the state and circumstances of the Church. In the apostolical age and some time after, before churches and baptisteries were generally erected, they baptised in any place where they had convenience, as John baptised in Jordan, and Philip baptised the eunuch in the wilderness, and Paul the jailor in his own house. So Tertullian observes,' that Peter baptised his converts in the Tiber at Rome, as John had done in Jordan, and that there was no difference whether a man was baptised in the sea, or in a lake, in a river, or a fountain; for the same spirit sanctified the water in all places, and gave them the power of sanctification, when once they were consecrated by invocation and prayer. After this manner the author of the Recognitions under the name of Clemens Romanus represents Peter preaching to the people, and telling them, they might wash away their sins in the water of a river, or a fountain, or the sea, when they were baptised by invoking the name of the blessed Trinity upon them. And he describes his own baptism, and some others,3 as given them by Peter in certain fountains in Syria by the sea shore. And so it seems to have continued to the time of Justin Martyr and Tertullian. For Tertullian speaks of their going from the church to the water, and then making their renunciations there as they had done in the church before. And Justin Martyr, describing the ceremony of the action, says, they brought the person who was to be baptised to a place where there was water, and there gave him the same regeneration, which they had received before.

Tertul. de Bapt. c. iv. Nulla distinctio est, mari quis an stagno, flumine an fonte, lacu an alveo diluatur, nec quicquam refert inter eos quos Joannes in Jordane, et quos Petrus in Tiberi tinxit. Omnes aquæ de pristina originis prærogativa sacramentum sanctificationis consequuntur, invocato Deo. Supervenit enim statim spiritus de cœlis, et aquis superest, sanctificans eas de semetipso, et ita sanctificatæ vim sanctificandi combibunt. 2 Clem. Recognit. lib. iv. c. 32. Ut in præsenti quidem tempore diluantur peccata vestra per aquam fontis, aut fluminis, aut etiam maris, invocato super vos trino beatitudinis nomine. Vid. Clementin. Hom. ix. n. 19. 8 Ibid. lib. vi. n. 15. In fontibus, mihi baptismum dedit, &c. prius in ecclesia sub Antistitis Tertul. de Coron. c.3. ἡμῶν ἔνθα ὕδωρ εςί, &c,

4

qui contigui habentur mari, perennis aquæ Aquam adituri, ibidem, sed et aliquanto manu contestamur nos renunciare Diabolo, &c. Justin. Apoll. ii. p. 93, "Ewura ǎyovrai vø'

SECT. 12.—In succeeding Ages confined to the Baptisteries of the Church.

But in after ages baptisteries were built adjoining to the church, and then rules were made, that baptism should ordinarily be administered no where but in them. Justinian,' in one of his Novels, refers to ancient laws, appointing, that none of the sacred mysteries of the church should be celebrated in private houses. Men might have private oratories for prayer in their own houses, but they were not to administer baptism or the eucharist in them, unless by a particular licence from the bishop of the place. Such baptisms are frequently condemned in the ancient councils, under the name of Παραβαπτίσματα, baptisms in private conventicles. As in the council of Constantinople under Mennas complaint is made against Zoaras, the monk, that though the Emperor had forbidden all private baptisms by an edict, yet Zoaras, despising that order, had baptised many in a private house upon the Easter festival. The edict, which that council refers to, was another Novel of Justinian's, made against Severus and his accomplices, who after they were expelled the church held conventicles, in private houses, and received, and baptised, and gave the communion to all that came to them: Which sort of parabaptisations are there condemned. So also in the petition of the monks presented to Mennas and the council under him, these baptisms and communions in private houses are reckoned to be an erecting of strange altars and baptisteries in opposition to the true altar and baptistery or laver of the

Justin. Novel 58. Priscis sancitum est legibus, nulli penitus esse licentiam, domi quæ sacratissima sunt agere.-Sed si quidem domos ita simpliciter aliqui habere putant oportere in sacris suis, orationis videlicet solius gratia et nullo celebrando penitus horum quæ sacri sunt mysterii, hoc eis permittimus, &c. 2 Con. Constant. sub Menna, act. i. p. 70. Ed. Crab. Quanquam piissimus imperator noster mandaverit non reconventiculare, neque rebaptizare, leg. parabaptizare, Zoaras tamen tale præceptum despexit, et parabaptizavit in die paschæ non paucos. 8 Justin. Novel. xlii. c. 3. Sancimus quemlibet talium silentium ducere, et non convocare aliquos ad se, neque accedentes recipere, aut parabaptizare audere, aut sacram communionem sordidare. Libel. Monachor. in act. i. Con. sub. Menna. ap. Crab. tom. ii. p. 26. Isti falsi sacerdotes et veri antichristi in domibus intrarunt, et aliena altaria erexerunt, et baptisteria ædificaverunt, in contra rium veri altaris et sancti lavacri.

church; under which name they are frequently condemned in the acts of that council. And in the council of Trullo the order was again renewed, that no persons should receive baptism in oratories belonging to houses, but that they, who desire illumination, should go to the catholic, that is, the public churches: and on pain of deposition to the clergyman, who was the administrator, and excommunication to the layman, who was the receiver.

SECT. 13.-Except in Case of Sickness, or with the Bishop's Licence to the contrary upon some special Occasions.

Now all these laws and rules were intended for the preservation of decency and good order in the Church, that baptism might be performed in the presence of the whole church, whereof men were then made members, and all the congregation might be spectators and witnesses of their admission. Upon which account it was improper to allow it to be done, either in heretical conventicles, or in private houses. Yet in cases of necessity, sickness, imprisonment, journeying, and the like, these rules could not bind; for they were only made for ordinary cases. Therefore we read of martyrs sometimes baptised in prison, and frequently of clinics, as they were called, who were baptised on a sick bed, and others baptised at sea, or in a journey, which were not interpreted transgressions of this rule, because the exigence and necessity of the case made them lawful. And sometimes baptism was allowed in private oratories by the bishop's licence, as both the law of Justinian and the Canons in some places had provided. For the council of Agde3 in France allows the eucharist to be celebrated in country chapels at all times by the bishop's leave, not excepting the greater festivals: and it is reasonable to suppose, that, where the eucharist was allowed, there baptism might be administered also, though they were not properly parochial or

2 Con. Trull.

Epist. Monachor. 2 Syriæ in act. i. Ibid. p. 67, ca. 59. Μηδαμῶς ἐν εὐκτηρίῳ οἴκῳ ἔνδον οἰκίας τυγχάνοντι βάπτισμα ἐπιτελείσθω. ̓Αλλ' οἱ μέλλοντες ἀξιῶσθαι τῷ ἀχράντε φωτίσματος, ταῖς καθολικαῖς προσερχέσθωσαν ἐκκλησίαις. 8 Con. Agathen. can. 21.

Si quis etiam extra parochias, in quibus legitimus est ordinariusque conventus, oratorium in agro habuerit, reliquis festivitatibus ut ibi missas teneat propter fatigationem familiæ justa ordinatione permittimus, &c.

baptismal churches. The council of Eliberis1 in Spain speaks of deacons presiding over a people, and baptising in places, where there was neither bishop nor presbyter, which we must reasonably suppose to have been country villages at some distance from the mother-church, where yet for convenience baptism was allowed to be performed by the hands of a deacon. As St. Jerome also testifies, who says, that in villages and castles, and places remote from the bishop's church, men were baptised both by presbyters and deacons. So that though the bishop's church was the ordinary place of baptism, as he himself was the chief minister of it, and the public baptistery was only at his church; yet upon proper reasons, by his authority and permission, baptism might be administered in other places, especially in those that were a sort of secondary churches; of which, and their several distinctions from the Ecclesia Matrix, the episcopal or principal church, I have given a more particular account before in the discourse of churches.

CHAP. VII.

Of the Renunciations, and Professions made by all
Persons immediately before their Baptism.

SECT. 1.-Three Things required of all Persons at their Baptism. 1. To renounce the Devil.

HAVING thus far conducted the catechumens to the place of baptism, that is, to the baptistery of the church; we are next to consider, how the discipline of the church proceeded with them immediately before their baptism. And here we are to observe in the first place, that three things were now indispensably required of them at this season, that is, a formal and solemn renunciation of the devil, a profession of faith made in the words of some received creed, and a promise or engagement to live in obedience to Christ, or by the laws and rules of the Christian religion. For though

1 Con. Eliber. can. 77. Si quis diaconus regens plebem, sine episcopo vel presbytero aliquos baptizaverit, episcopus eos per benedictionem perficere debebit. 2 Hieron. Dial. cum Lucifer. cap. 4. In villulis et castellis et remotioribus locis, per presbyteros et diaconos baptizati, &c.