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Dist. 5, Art. 2, Q. 2

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 5

Textus Latinus
p. 126

Quaestio II. Utrum haeretici dent rem Sacramenti.

Secundo quaeritur, utrum haeretici dent rem Sacramenti. Et quod non, videtur.

1. Augustinus, de Consecratione distinctione quarta1: «Ecclesia paradiso comparata indicat nobis, posse quidem foris baptismum eius recipere, sed salutem beatitudinis extra eam nec accipere nec habere».

2. Item, Augustinus2: «Qui foris Ecclesiam baptizantur non sumunt baptismum ad salutem, sed ad perniciem, habentes formam baptismi, virtutem eius negantes».

3. Item, ratione videtur: quia, si baptisma haereticorum facit filios Dei, dando gratiam baptismatis; videtur, quod inter haereticos extra Ecclesiam sint filii Dei; hoc autem falsum: ergo etc.

4. Item, si baptisma haereticorum facit remissionem peccatorum, et remissio fit per Spiritum sanctum; ergo inter eos est Spiritus sanctus: ergo haeretici dant Spiritum sanctum; sed hoc est falsum: ergo etc.

Contra: 1. Unum est baptisma Christi, Ecclesiae et haereticorum, qui in eadem forma baptizant3: ergo eandem efficaciam habent: ergo si in baptismo Ecclesiae datur gratia, et in baptismo haereticorum.

2. Item, baptisma illud est verum Sacramentum; quod patet, quia non est iterandum4: ergo si non invenit obstaculum, ita confert gratiam, ut Catholicorum.

3. Item, possibile est, quod ille qui5 baptizat, sit haereticus, me nesciente: ergo damnum incurram de malitia aliena sine omni mea culpa.

Conclusio. Baptismus haereticorum in forma Ecclesiae collatus habet efficaciam, nisi obsit obex.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod baptismus, qui datur ab haereticis in forma Ecclesiae, baptismus est et baptismus Ecclesiae, quia regenerat filios Ecclesiae, non haeresi, generat etiam filios in Christo. — Exemplum Augustini contra Donatum6 est: quia, sicut Iacob semen non tantum genuit per uterum liberarum, sed etiam ancillarum; sic et Christus; unde qui boni baptizantur ab haereticis, comparat eos filiis ancillarum, sed qui mali ab Ecclesia, comparat Esau. Habet igitur semper efficaciam, nisi habeat obicem in suscipiente; tunc autem habet obicem, quando ille qui baptizatur, consentit haeresi. — Et hoc potest esse tripliciter: aut quando est haereticus et favet errori; aut si non est haereticus, tamen vadit ad haereticum praecisum in contemptum Ecclesiae; aut si non est praecisus, vadit tamen ad occultum, quem scit esse haereticum, propter aliquod commodum vel favorem7. Et tunc nihil accipit, quia accipit ab haeretico, ut est haereticus. — Sed tunc non consentit, quando habet impotentiam discernendi, ut parvulus; vel quando ille haereticus est occultus et creditur esse Catholicus; aut quando homo est in necessitate constitutus, solo necessitatis intuitu.

Auctoritates Augustini secundum primam viam intelliguntur. Rationes ad oppositum patent: quia quos haeretici baptizant non consentientes haeresi tamen, quia foris et extra Ecclesiam... habentes nimirum formam Sacramenti, virtutem autem eius abnegantesp. 127 suae, etsi videantur esse de eis, tamen sunt Ecclesiae filii et intra Ecclesiam. Unde Augustinus dicit contra Donatum8, quod haeretici baptizant non per id quod habent repugnans Ecclesiae, sed per id quod habent communitatem cum ea et unitatem; et ideo, si ille qui baptizatur, nihil recipiat ab haereticis nisi baptisma nec in aliis conveniat, iudicandus est Catholicus, quia cum Catholicis convenit et non habet repugnans; et talis est parvulus. Et ideo, quamvis parvuli baptizentur ab haereticis, non tamen sunt intra haereticos quantum ad meritum, sed solum quantum ad numerum; et ideo non sequitur, quod sint intra haereticos, secundum quod haeretici sunt, sicut9 filii Dei; nec etiam, quod inter eos sit Spiritus sanctus, per quem remittuntur peccata10.

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English Translation
p. 126

Question II. Whether heretics give the reality of the Sacrament.

Secondly it is asked whether heretics give the reality of the Sacrament. And it seems that [they do] not.

1. Augustine, On the Consecration, the fourth distinction1: «The Church, compared to paradise, indicates to us that one can indeed receive her baptism outside, but neither receive nor have the salvation of blessedness outside her».

2. Likewise, Augustine2: «Those who are baptized outside the Church do not take up baptism unto salvation, but unto destruction, having the form of baptism, [while] denying its power».

3. Likewise, it seems [so] by reason: because, if the baptism of heretics makes sons of God, by giving the grace of baptism; it seems that among heretics outside the Church there are sons of God; but this is false: therefore etc.

4. Likewise, if the baptism of heretics effects the remission of sins, and the remission is made through the Holy Spirit; therefore among them is the Holy Spirit: therefore heretics give the Holy Spirit; but this is false: therefore etc.

On the contrary: 1. The baptism of Christ, of the Church, and of heretics is one, for they baptize in the same form3: therefore they have the same efficacy: therefore if in the baptism of the Church grace is given, [it is given] also in the baptism of heretics.

2. Likewise, that baptism is a true Sacrament; which is plain, because it is not to be repeated4: therefore if it meets no obstacle, it confers grace just as [the baptism] of catholics [does].

3. Likewise, it is possible that he who baptizes5 be a heretic, without my knowing it: therefore I should incur harm from another's malice without any fault of my own.

Conclusion. The baptism of heretics, conferred in the form of the Church, has efficacy, unless an obstacle stands in the way.

I respond: It must be said that the baptism which is given by heretics in the form of the Church is baptism, and the baptism of the Church, because it regenerates sons of the Church, not [sons] of heresy; it also begets sons in Christ. — The example of Augustine against Donatus6 is [this]: that, just as Jacob begot offspring not only through the womb of free women, but also of handmaids; so also Christ; whence those who, being good, are baptized by heretics, he compares to the sons of the handmaids, but those who, being wicked, [are baptized] by the Church, he compares to Esau. Therefore it always has efficacy, unless it should have an obstacle in the one receiving; and it has an obstacle when he who is baptized consents to heresy. — And this can be in three ways: either when he is a heretic and favors the error; or, if he is not a heretic, yet he goes to a heretic cut off [from the Church] in contempt of the Church; or, if he is not [going to one] cut off, yet he goes to a hidden one, whom he knows to be a heretic, on account of some advantage or favor7. And then he receives nothing, because he receives from the heretic as he is a heretic. — But he does not then consent, when he has an incapacity for discerning, like a little child; or when that heretic is hidden and is believed to be a catholic; or when a man is placed in necessity, with regard only to the necessity.

The authorities of Augustine are understood according to the first way. The reasons to the contrary are plain: because those whom heretics baptize, [the heretics] not consenting to heresy — yet, because [they baptize] outside and beyond the Church... having indeed the form of the Sacrament, [while] denying its powerp. 127 [as] their own — even if [these baptized ones] seem to be of them [the heretics], nonetheless they are sons of the Church and within the Church. Whence Augustine says against Donatus8 that heretics baptize not through that which they have repugnant to the Church, but through that which they have in common with her and in unity [with her]; and therefore, if he who is baptized receives nothing from the heretics except baptism, and agrees [with them] in nothing else, he is to be judged a catholic, because he agrees with catholics and has nothing repugnant; and such is the little child. And therefore, although little children are baptized by heretics, nevertheless they are not within [the company of] heretics as regards merit, but only as regards number; and therefore it does not follow that they are within [the company of] heretics, according as they are heretics, like9 sons of God; nor either that among them is the Holy Spirit, through whom sins are remitted10.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Gratian. C. Si iustus (30.) c. 1. q. 1, in qua quasi per totam de hac re tractatur. — Can. 45. sumtum ex August., IV. de Baptismo contra Donatistas, c. 1. n. 1. In fine testimonii textus originalis vel percipere vel tenere.
    Gratian, C. Si iustus (30), c. 1, q. 1, in which almost throughout this matter is treated. — Canon 45, taken from Augustine, IV On Baptism, against the Donatists, c. 1, n. 1. At the end of the testimony the original text [reads] vel percipere vel tenere ("either to receive or to hold").
  2. 2
    In Dialog. Qq. 65 ad Orosium (inter opera August.), q. 39, et refertur C. Quamvis (29.), de Consecratione, d. 4. Textus originalis: «Quamvis enim unum baptisma sit et haereticorum, eorum scil... tamen, quia foris Ecclesiam... habentes nimirum speciem pietatis, virtutem autem eius abnegantes (II. Tim. 3, 5.)». In praemisso canone sic legitur: Quamvis...
    In the Dialogue of 65 Questions to Orosius (among the works of Augustine), q. 39, and it is referred to [as] C. Quamvis (29), On the Consecration, d. 4. The original text [reads]: «For although the baptism even of heretics is one, namely theirs... yet, because [they are] outside the Church... having indeed the appearance of piety, but denying its power (2 Tim. 3, 5)». In the foregoing canon it is read thus: Quamvis...
  3. 3
    Eph. 4, 5: Unus Dominus, una fides, unum baptisma.
    Ephesians 4, 5: One Lord, one faith, one baptism.
  4. 4
    Vide infra lit. Magistri, d. VI. c. 2. — Pro illud edd. illorum.
    See below in the Master's text, d. VI, c. 2. — For illud ("that") the editions [read] illorum ("of those").
  5. 5
    Cod. I qui me. In fine arg. ed. 1 cum pluribus codd. omittit mea.
    Cod. I [reads] qui me. At the end of the argument ed. 1, with several codices, omits mea ("my").
  6. 6
    Libr. I. c. 10. n. 14. — Vat. hic et circa finem corp. melius contra Donatistas.
    Book I, c. 10, n. 14. — The Vatican edition, here and near the end of the body [of the article], [reads] better contra Donatistas ("against the Donatists").
  7. 7
    Cfr. infra d. 13. dub. 4. — Mox post nihil codd. F H bene supplent gratiae.
    Cf. below, d. 13, dub. 4. — Soon after, [after] nihil ("nothing") codices F H rightly supply gratiae ("of grace").
  8. 8
    Loc. cit. in nota penultima. — Superius pro et intra Ecclesiam Vat. et filii intrant Ecclesiam. Inferius pro conveniat et convenit cod. N bis communicat.
    The place cited in the second-to-last note. — Above, for et intra Ecclesiam ("and within the Church") the Vatican edition [reads] et filii intrant Ecclesiam ("and the sons enter the Church"). Lower down, for conveniat and convenit ("agrees") cod. N twice [reads] communicat ("has communion").
  9. 9
    Codd. R S (F I a secunda manu) omittunt sicut, pro quo cod. H (F primus) si sunt, Vat. sed sicut.
    Codices R S (F I by a second hand) omit sicut ("like"), for which cod. H (F first [hand]) [reads] si sunt ("if they are"), [and] the Vatican edition sed sicut ("but like").
  10. 10
    Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.
    See the scholion to the preceding question [a. 2, q. 1].
Cited by

1 place in the Opera Omnia citesthis question. Derived from Quaracchi’s own apparatus, never tagged by hand.

Doubts concerning the text of the Master
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 33
supra d. 5. a. 2. q. 2.

2 further references address the article or printed page this question belongs to, rather than the question itself.

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