Whether Those Who Had Been Baptized with John's Baptism Had to Be
Baptized with the Baptism of Christ?
Objection 1: It would seem that those who had been baptized with
John's baptism had not to be baptized with the baptism of Christ. For
John was not less than the apostles, since of him is it written
(Matt. 11:11): "There hath not risen among them that are born of
women a greater than John the Baptist." But those who were baptized
by the apostles were not baptized again, but only received the
imposition of hands; for it is written (Acts 8:16, 17) that some were
"only baptized" by Philip "in the name of the Lord Jesus": then the
apostles--namely, Peter and John--"laid their hands upon them, and
they received the Holy Ghost." Therefore it seems that those who had
been baptized by John had not to be baptized with the baptism of
Christ.
Obj. 2: Further, the apostles were baptized with John's baptism,
since some of them were his disciples, as is clear from John 1:37.
But the apostles do not seem to have been baptized with the baptism
of Christ: for it is written (John 4:2) that "Jesus did not baptize,
but His disciples." Therefore it seems that those who had been
baptized with John's baptism had not to be baptized with the baptism
of Christ.
Obj. 3: Further, he who is baptized is less than he who baptizes. But
we are not told that John himself was baptized with the baptism of
Christ. Therefore much less did those who had been baptized by John
need to receive the baptism of Christ.
Obj. 4: Further, it is written (Acts 19:1-5) that "Paul . . . found
certain disciples; and he said to them: Have you received the Holy
Ghost since ye believed? But they said to him: We have not so much as
heard whether there be a Holy Ghost. And he said: In what then were
you baptized? Who said: In John's baptism." Wherefore "they were"
again "baptized in the name of our [Vulg.: 'the'] Lord Jesus Christ."
Hence it seems that they needed to be baptized again, because they
did not know of the Holy Ghost: as Jerome says on Joel 2:28 and in an
epistle (lxix De Viro unius uxoris), and likewise Ambrose (De Spiritu
Sancto). But some were baptized with John's baptism who had full
knowledge of the Trinity. Therefore these had no need to be baptized
again with Christ's baptism.
Obj. 5: Further, on Rom. 10:8, "This is the word of faith, which we
preach," the gloss of Augustine says: "Whence this virtue in the
water, that it touches the body and cleanses the heart, save by the
efficacy of the word, not because it is uttered, but because it is
believed?" Whence it is clear that the virtue of baptism depends on
faith. But the form of John's baptism signified the faith in which we
are baptized; for Paul says (Acts 19:4): "John baptized the people
with the baptism of penance, saying: That they should believe in Him
who was to come after him--that is to say, in Jesus." Therefore it
seems that those who had been baptized with John's baptism had no
need to be baptized again with the baptism of Christ.
_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (Super Joan., Tract. v): "Those who
were baptized with John's baptism needed to be baptized with the
baptism of our Lord."
_I answer that,_ According to the opinion of the Master (Sent. iv, D,
2), "those who had been baptized by John without knowing of the
existence of the Holy Ghost, and who based their hopes on his
baptism, were afterwards baptized with the baptism of Christ: but
those who did not base their hope on John's baptism, and who believed
in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, were not baptized afterwards, but
received the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands made over them by
the apostles."
And this, indeed, is true as to the first part, and is confirmed by
many authorities. But as to the second part, the assertion is
altogether unreasonable. First, because John's baptism neither
conferred grace nor imprinted a character, but was merely "in water,"
as he says himself (Matt. 3:11). Wherefore the faith or hope which
the person baptized had in Christ could not supply this defect.
Secondly, because, when in a sacrament, that is omitted which belongs
of necessity to the sacrament, not only must the omission be
supplied, but the whole must be entirely renewed. Now, it belongs of
necessity to Christ's baptism that it be given not only in water, but
also in the Holy Ghost, according to John 3:5: "Unless a man be born
of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." Wherefore in the case of those who had been baptized with
John's baptism in water only, not merely had the omission to be
supplied by giving them the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands,
but they had to be baptized wholly anew "in water and the Holy Ghost."
Reply Obj. 1: As Augustine says (Super Joan., Tract. v): "After John,
baptism was administered, and the reason why was because he gave not
Christ's baptism, but his own . . . That which Peter gave . . . and
if any were given by Judas, that was Christ's. And therefore if Judas
baptized anyone, yet were they not rebaptized . . . For the baptism
corresponds with him by whose authority it is given, not with him by
whose ministry it is given." For the same reason those who were
baptized by the deacon Philip, who gave the baptism of Christ, were
not baptized again, but received the imposition of hands by the
apostles, just as those who are baptized by priests are confirmed by
bishops.
Reply Obj. 2: As Augustine says to Seleucianus (Ep. cclxv), "we deem
that Christ's disciples were baptized either with John's baptism, as
some maintain, or with Christ's baptism, which is more probable. For
He would not fail to administer baptism so as to have baptized
servants through whom He baptized others, since He did not fail in
His humble service to wash their feet."
Reply Obj. 3: As Chrysostom says (Hom. iv in Matth. [*From the
supposititious Opus Imperfectum]): "Since, when John said, 'I ought to
be baptized by Thee,' Christ answered, 'Suffer it to be so now': it
follows that afterwards Christ did baptize John." Moreover, he
asserts that "this is distinctly set down in some of the apocryphal
books." At any rate, it is certain, as Jerome says on Matt. 3:13,
that, "as Christ was baptized in water by John, so had John to be
baptized in the Spirit by Christ."
Reply Obj. 4: The reason why these persons were baptized after being
baptized by John was not only because they knew not of the Holy
Ghost, but also because they had not received the baptism of Christ.
Reply Obj. 5: As Augustine says (Contra Faust. xix), our sacraments
are signs of present grace, whereas the sacraments of the Old Law
were signs of future grace. Wherefore the very fact that John
baptized in the name of one who was to come, shows that he did not
give the baptism of Christ, which is a sacrament of the New Law.
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