A TREATISE AGAINST NOV ATI AN. 433 tothe church,seeingthatthe Lord willforhidthem, even if theyshouldwish it,asHe commanded Moses,saying," Every thingleprous1 and impure,cast abroad outsidethe camp." * But the dove sent forth that returned,is signifiedby the man who doesnot delay,because he would have no restfor his feet. And Noah receiveditinto the ark; and when it was sentforthagainon the seventhday,receivedit,bearing in itsmouth an oliveleaf. 3. And I,beloved brethren,— as I not heedlesslymeditate these things,and not in harmony with human wisdom, but as itispermittedto our minds by the condescensionof the heavenly Lord, needfullyand pertinentlyto conceive,— say that thatdove signifiesto us of itselfa double type. For merly, that is,from the beginningof the divineadministra tion,it suggestsitsown figure,the firstindeed and chief— that is,the figureof the Spirit; and by itsmouth the sacra ment of baptism which is providedfor the salvationof the human race,and thatby the heavenlyplan itiscelebratedin the church only.3 Moreover, threetimessentforthfrom the ark,flyingaboutthrough theairover the water,italreadysig nifiedthe sacramentsof our church. Whence alsothe Lord Christchargesupon Peter,and moreover alsoupon therestof His disciples," Go ye and preach the gospelto the nations, baptizingthem in the name of the Father,and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."4 That is,that that same Trinity -which operated figurativelyin Noah's days through the [[figureof the] dove,now operatesin the church spiritually through the disciples. 4. Let us now take the second characteralsoof the dove sent forth from the ark,that is to say,in the time of the deluge, when allthe abyssesbroke forth,when the cataracts of heaven were opened upon the earth,on account of the wickedness of men which they dailypractisedbefore the Xord; as said Moses, "And the Lord God saw that the 1 Varium. 2Num. v.2. 5 Thispassageisaltogethercorruptand unintelligible; someforceis necessaryeventogiveitanappearanceofmeaning. * Matt.xxviii.19. OTP.— VOL. II. 2 B