Bonaventure

DISTINCTIO V.

Cap. I. Quod baptismus aeque bonus est, a bono vel a malo datus.

Post haec sciendum est, Sacramentum baptismi a bonis et a malis ministris dari, sicut a bonis et malis sumitur. Nec melior est baptismus, qui per meliorem datur; nec minus bonus qui per minus bonum datur; nec malus qui per malum datur; nec maius munus datur in baptismo a bono dato, nec minus in baptismo dato a malo, sed aequale; quia non est hominis, sed Dei munus. Quod totum subditis declaratur testimoniis. Augustinus¹ ait: «Baptismus talis est, qualis est ille, in cuius potestate datur, non qualis est ille, per cuius ministerium datur». Item: «Prorsus fieri potest, ut aliqui verum habeant baptismum, et non habeant veram fidem». Item: «Si inter bonos ministros, cum sit alius alio melior, non est melior baptismus, qui per meliorem datur; nullo modo malus est qui etiam per malum datur, quia idem baptismus datur. Et ideo per ministros dispares Dei munus aequale est, quia non illorum, sed eius est». Idem: «Cum baptizat malus, illud quod datum est, unum est nec impar propter impares ministros, sed par et aequale propter hoc: Hic est qui baptizat»². Item: «Ego dico, et nos dicimus omnes, quia iustos oportet esse per quos baptizatur, iustos oportet esse tanti iudicis ministros. Sint ministri iusti, si volunt; si autem noluerint esse iusti qui sedent in cathedra Moysi, securum me fecit magister meus, de quo Spiritus sanctus dicit: Hic est qui baptizat». Item: «Quos baptizavit Iudas, Christus baptizavit. Si quos ergo baptizavit ebriosus, homicida, adulter; si baptismus Christi erat, Christus baptizavit. Non timeo adulterum, ebriosum, non homicidam, quia columbam attendo, per quam mihi dicitur: Hic est qui baptizat». Item: «Homicida dedit baptismum Christi; quod Sacramentum tam sanctum est, ut nec homicida ministrante polluatur».

Item³: «Si in haeresi quacumque vel schismate quisquam in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti baptismi Sacramentum acceperit, integrum Sacramentum accepit; sed salutem, quae virtus est Sacramenti, non habebit, si extra catholicam Ecclesiam ipsum Sacramentum habuerit. Debet igitur ad Ecclesiam redire, non ut Sacramentum baptismi iterum accipiat, quod nemo debet in aliquo repetere, sed ut in societate catholica vitam accipiat. Baptismus enim extra Ecclesiam nequit prodesse. Ibi enim cuique prodesse potest baptismus, ubi potest prodesse eleemosyna, scilicet in Ecclesia». Item Isidorus⁴: «Romanus Pontifex non hominem iudicat, qui baptizat, sed Spiritum Dei subministrare gratiam baptismi, licet paganus sit qui baptizat». In his perspicue cernis, baptismum verum bonis et malis dari a bonis et a malis; et ipsum tamen aeque sanctum esse, et munus eius aequale in bonis, sive a bonis sive a malis baptizentur:

Cap. II. De potestate baptismi et ministerio.

Quia ministerium tantum habent, non potestatem baptismi; potestatem enim sibi retinuit. Quod novit Ioannes, cum vidit columbam descendentem super Christum. Unde Augustinus⁵: «Quid noverat Ioannes Baptista? Dominum. Quid non noverat? potestatem dominici baptismi in nullum hominem a Domino transituram, sed ministerium plane transiturum: potestatem a Domino in neminem, sed ministerium in bonos et malos. Non exhorreat columba ministerium malorum, respiciat Domini potestatem. Quid facit tibi minister malus, ubi bonus est Dominus»? «Neque qui plantat, neque qui rigat est aliquid, sed qui incrementum dat, Deus. Si superbus fuerit minister, cum diabolo computatur; sed non contaminatur donum Christi, quod per illum fluit purum est. Per lapideum canalem transit aqua ad areolas; in canali lapideo nil generatur, sed hortus fructus plurimos affert». — Habent igitur non modo boni, sed et mali ministerium baptizandi, sed neutri potestatem baptismi. «Ministerium enim dedit Christus servis, sed potestatem sibi retinuit, quam si vellet, poterat servis dare, ut servus daret baptismum suum tanquam vice sua. Et potestatem suam poterat constituere in aliquo, vel in aliquibus servis suis, ut tanta vis esset in baptismo servi, quanta est in baptismo Domini; sed noluit, ne servus in servo spem poneret. Baptizat servus ut minister, baptizat Dominus tanquam potestatem habens, quam si daret servis, ut scilicet ipsorum esset quod Domini erat, tot essent baptismi, quot servi, ut, sicut dictus est baptismus Ioannis, sic diceretur baptismus Petri vel Pauli. Quod ne fieret, tenuit sibi Dominus potestatem baptismi, servis ministerium dedit. Si ergo servus dicit, se baptizare; recte dicit, sed tanquam minister baptizat; et ideo non differt, sive bonus sive malus baptizet». «Inde etiam nemo dicit baptismus meus, cum tamen dicat Evangelium meum, prudentia mea, licet haec sint a Deo. In quibus differentia est: alius enim alio melius operatur in evangelizando, et alius alio prudentior est; alius autem alio magis minusve baptizatus, sive ab inferiore sive a maiore baptizetur, dici non potest⁶».

Cap. III. Quae fuit potestas baptismi, quam Christus potuit dare servis et non dedit.

Hic quaeritur, quae sit illa potestas baptismi, quam Christus sibi retinuit et potuit dare servis. — Haec est, ut plurimi volunt, potestas dimittendi peccata in baptismo. — Sed potestas dimittendi peccata, quae est in Deo, Deus est. Ideo alii dicunt, hanc potestatem non potuisse dare alicui servorum, quia nulli potuit dare, ut esset quod ipse est, vel ut haberet essentiam, quam ipse habet, cui hoc est esse quod posse. Dicunt etiam: si hanc potentiam alicui dare potuit, potuit ei dare creaturas creare, quia non est hoc maioris potentiae quam illud⁷. — Ad quod dici potest, quia potuit eis dare potentiam dimittendi peccata, non ipsam eandem, qua ipse potens est, sed potentiam creatam, qua servus posset dimittere peccata, non tamen ut auctor remissionis, sed ut minister, nec tamen sine Deo auctore; ut, sicut in ministerio habet exterius sanctificare, ita in ministerio haberet interius⁸ mundare; et sicut illud fecit, Deo auctore, qui cum eo et in eo operatur illud exterius, ita mundaret interius, Deo auctore, qui eius verbo velut quodam ministerio uteretur. Ita etiam posset Deus per aliquem creare aliqua, non per eum tanquam auctorem, sed ministrum, cum quo et in quo operaretur; sicut in bonis operibus nostris ipse operatur, et nos: nec ipse tantum, nec nos tantum, sed ipse nobiscum et in nobis, et tamen in illis agendis ministri eius sumus, non sumus auctores. Ita ergo potuit dare servo potestatem dimittendi peccata in baptismo, id est, ut in mundatione interiori servus cum Domino operaretur; non servus sine Domino, nec Dominus sine servo; sed Dominus cum servo et in servo, sicut in exteriori ministerio Dominus operatur cum servo et in

servo. Unde et Dominus dicitur sanctificare et servus; sed Dominus invisibili gratia, servus visibili Sacramento. Unde Augustinus super Leviticum⁹: «Dominus ait: Ego Dominus, qui sanctifico; de Moyse etiam dictum est: Et sanctificabis eum. Sed Moyses sanctificat visibilibus Sacramentis per ministerium, Dominus autem invisibili gratia per Spiritum, ubi est totus fructus visibilium Sacramentorum. Sine hac sanctificatione visibilia Sacramenta nihil prosunt». — Si quis hoc melius aperire poterit, non invideo¹⁰.

DISTINCTION V.

Chap. I. That baptism is equally good, given by a good or by a bad [minister].

After these things it must be known that the Sacrament of baptism is given by good and by bad ministers, just as it is received by the good and the bad. Nor is the baptism better which is given through a better [minister]; nor less good which is given through a less good one; nor bad which is given through a bad one; nor is a greater gift given in a baptism given by a good [minister], nor a lesser in a baptism given by a bad one, but an equal one; because it is not man's, but God's gift. All of which is shown by the testimonies set below. Augustine¹ says: «Baptism is such as is he in whose power it is given, not such as is he through whose ministry it is given». Likewise: «It can altogether happen that some have true baptism, and do not have true faith». Likewise: «If among good ministers, since one is better than another, the baptism is not better which is given through a better one; in no way is it bad which is given even through a bad one, because the same baptism is given. And therefore through unequal ministers God's gift is equal, because it is not theirs, but his». The same: «When a bad man baptizes, that which is given is one and not unequal on account of unequal ministers, but par and equal on account of this: He it is who baptizes»². Likewise: «I say, and we all say, that they ought to be just through whom one is baptized, the ministers of so great a judge ought to be just. Let the ministers be just, if they will; but if those who sit in the chair of Moses are unwilling to be just, my master has made me secure, of whom the Holy Spirit says: He it is who baptizes». Likewise: «Those whom Judas baptized, Christ baptized. If then those whom a drunkard, a murderer, an adulterer baptized — if it was the baptism of Christ, Christ baptized. I do not fear the adulterer, the drunkard, not the murderer, because I attend to the dove, through which it is said to me: He it is who baptizes». Likewise: «A murderer gave the baptism of Christ; which Sacrament is so holy that it is not polluted by a murderer ministering it».

Likewise³: «If in any heresy whatever or schism anyone has received the Sacrament of baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, he has received an entire Sacrament; but he will not have salvation, which is the virtue of the Sacrament, if he has had the Sacrament itself outside the catholic Church. He must therefore return to the Church, not that he may receive the Sacrament of baptism again — which no one ought to repeat in any one — but that he may receive life in the catholic society. For baptism outside the Church cannot profit. For there can baptism profit anyone where alms can profit, namely in the Church». Likewise Isidore⁴: «The Roman Pontiff judges that it is not the man who baptizes, but the Spirit of God who supplies the grace of baptism, although it be a pagan who baptizes». In these things you clearly perceive that true baptism is given to good and bad by good and by bad; and that it is nonetheless equally holy, and its gift equal in the good, whether they be baptized by the good or by the bad:

Chap. II. On the power of baptism and the ministry.

Since they have only the ministry, not the power of baptism; for he retained the power to himself. Which John knew, when he saw the dove descending upon Christ. Whence Augustine⁵: «What did John the Baptist know? The Lord. What did he not know? that the power of the Lord's baptism would pass from the Lord to no man, but that the ministry plainly would pass: the power from the Lord to no one, but the ministry to good and bad. Let not the dove abhor the ministry of the bad, let it look to the power of the Lord. What does a bad minister do to you, where the Lord is good»? «Neither he that planteth, nor he that watereth is anything, but he that giveth the increase, God. If the minister be proud, he is reckoned with the devil; but the gift of Christ is not contaminated, which flows pure through him. Through a stone channel the water passes to the garden-beds; in the stone channel nothing is generated, but the garden brings forth very many fruits». — They have therefore, not only the good, but also the bad, the ministry of baptizing, but neither the power of baptism. «For Christ gave the ministry to servants, but retained the power to himself, which, if he willed, he could give to servants, that the servant might give his baptism as in his stead. And he could set his power in some one, or in some of his servants, so that there might be as great force in the baptism of the servant as there is in the baptism of the Lord; but he was unwilling, lest the servant should place his hope in a servant. The servant baptizes as a minister, the Lord baptizes as having the power, which if he gave to servants, so that that which was the Lord's might be theirs, there would be as many baptisms as servants, so that, just as it is said the baptism of John, so it would be called the baptism of Peter or of Paul. That this might not happen, the Lord held the power of baptism to himself, and gave the ministry to servants. If then a servant says that he baptizes; he says rightly, but he baptizes as a minister; and therefore it makes no difference whether a good or a bad man baptizes». «Hence also no one says my baptism, although he says my Gospel, my prudence, although these are from God. In which there is a difference: for one works better than another in evangelizing, and one is more prudent than another; but that one is more or less baptized than another, whether he be baptized by a lesser or by a greater, cannot be said⁶».

Chap. III. What was the power of baptism, which Christ could have given to servants and did not give.

Here it is asked what that power of baptism is, which Christ retained to himself and could have given to servants. — It is, as very many will have it, the power of remitting sins in baptism. — But the power of remitting sins, which is in God, is God. Therefore others say that this power could not be given to any of the servants, because to none could it be given that he should be what He is, or that he should have the essence which He has, to whom this to-be is the same as to-be-able. They say also: if he could give this power to anyone, he could give him to create creatures, because this is not of greater power than that⁷. — To which it can be said that he could give to them the power of remitting sins, not the very same by which He Himself is powerful, but a created power, by which a servant might remit sins, yet not as the author of the remission, but as a minister, nor yet without God as author; so that, as in the ministry he has to sanctify outwardly, so in the ministry he would have inwardly⁸ to cleanse; and as he did that, God being author, who with him and in him works that outward thing, so he would cleanse inwardly, God being author, who would use his word as a kind of ministry. So too God could create some things through someone, not through him as author, but as minister, with whom and in whom he would work; just as in our good works he himself works, and we: neither he alone, nor we alone, but he with us and in us, and yet in performing those things we are his ministers, we are not authors. So therefore he could give to a servant the power of remitting sins in baptism, that is, that in the inward cleansing the servant might work with the Lord; not the servant without the Lord, nor the Lord without the servant; but the Lord with the servant and in the servant, just as in the outward ministry the Lord works with the servant and in

the servant. Whence both the Lord is said to sanctify and the servant; but the Lord by invisible grace, the servant by the visible Sacrament. Whence Augustine on Leviticus⁹: «The Lord says: I am the Lord, who sanctify; of Moses also it is said: And thou shalt sanctify him. But Moses sanctifies by the visible Sacraments through the ministry, but the Lord by invisible grace through the Spirit, where is the whole fruit of the visible Sacraments. Without this sanctification the visible Sacraments profit nothing». — If anyone can open this better, I do not begrudge it¹⁰.

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